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are  poor  arithmeticians,  they  are  nearly  all  or  them 
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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/cruiseofmontauktOOmcquiala 


THE 


Cruise  of  the  Montauk 


TO 


BERMUDA,  THE  WEST  INDIES 
AND   FLORIDA 


James  McQuade 

NEW   YORK   YACHT   CLUB 


NEW  YORK 
THOMAS  R.  KNOX   &   CO. 

>LXCESSOKS    TO   jAMEs    Mil  I.EK 

813  BROADWAY 
1885 


Copyright,  1884,  by 
JAMES    McQUADE 


TROWS 

PRINTINQ  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY, 

NEW   YORK. 


STo 
MR.   JOHN    R.    PLATT 

THE  GENIAL  "UNCLE  JOHN,"  WHOSE  JOYOUS  PRESENCE  ENLIVENS  THESE  PAGES, 

AS   HIS   UNFLAGGING   CHEERFULNESS   ENHANCED   THE   PLEASURES 
OF   A   HAPPY   VOYAGE, 

1   DEDICATE   THIS   COLLECTION   OF   LETTERS,    DESCRIBING 

THE    CRUISE    OF   THE    MONTAUK. 


PREFACE. 


This  book  grew  out  of  a  postage-stamp.  Possibly  the  reader 
may  think  it  might  better  have  remained  in  embryo,  but  the 
mischief  is  done,  and  I  have  written  the  opportunity  for 
mine  enemy — if  I  have  one. 

A  few  of  these  letters  were  published,  at  the  time  of 
their  receipt,  in  the  Utica  Observer  and  Utiea  Herald.  The 
suggestion  that  they  ought  to  be  collected  in  a  book  so 
tickled  my  self-esteem  that  I  yielded  to  the  implied  flattery  ; 
but  not  until  I  had  consulted  my  friends,  Mr.  E.  Prentiss 
Bailey  and  Mr.  S.  N.  D.  North,  editors,  respectively,  of  the 
journals  named,  whose  favorable  opinion  reinforced  the  ap- 
peal to  my  vanity.  Iwen  then  I  had  such  misgiving  that 
personal  partiality  biased  their  judgment,  that  I  did  not 
decide  until  the  matter  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Richard  II. 
Stoddard,  the  poet  and  accomplished  man  of  letters  ;  but 
when  his  authority  confirmed  the  commendation  of  the  other 
competent  judges  I  ventured  to  exhibit  my  small  wares, 
shifting  a  portion  of  the  responsibility  of  presentation  from 
my  own,  to  abler,  shoulders. 

These   screeds    have    no   literary   pretension.       They   are 


vi  PREFACE. 

simply  light,  gossipy,  and  perhaps  trifling,  narrations  of  what 
I  saw,  enveloped  in  desultory  commentaries,  without  much 
orderly  arrangement  and,  therefore,  inartistic  in  the  book- 
making  view.  But  I  have  no  pride  of  authorship,  and  shall 
be  grateful  if  they  find  even  a  moderate  share  of  accept- 
ance. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  I  alone  am  accountable  for  the 
somewhat  peculiar  views  advanced  in  discussing  various 
topics  (which,  I  know,  run  counter  to  the  generally-accepted 
opinions),  and  that  my  voyage-companions  are  not  respon- 
sible for  them  ;  neither  are  my  sponsors,  whose  encourage- 
ment presents  me  at  the  font  of  literature.  In  the  advocacy 
of  my  opinions,  I  am  prone  to  manifest  a  certain  degree 
of  boldness,  which  may  not  always  be  politic,  but  I  invite 
for  them  the  same  degree  of  criticism  I  apply  to  differing 
views.  I  act  on  the  principle  that  everything  should  be 
weighed  in  an  unprejudiced  scale  ;  that  facts,  and  not  mere 
assertions,  ought  to  form  the  basis  of  intelligent  opinion  ; 
that  clamor  should  not  be  accepted  as  argument ;  and  that 
it  is  well  to  heed  the  counsel  of  St.  Peter:  "Be  always 
ready  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a 
reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  you." 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  using  names  with  great  free- 
dom, in  order  to  give  interest  to  the  dry  details  of  a  voyage. 
I  trust  I  have  mentioned  no  name  (whether  of  those  we  met, 
or  of  others,  introduced  by  way  of  illustration)  the  owner 
of  which  will  find  cause  for  oft"ense  in  its   employment.     I 


PREFACE.  vii 

may  have  written  at  times  with  a  sharp-pointed  pen,  but  it 
was  dipped  in  no  rankling  ink. 

I  am  afraid  to  acknowledge  with  how  much  diffidence  I 
launch  my  first  book  venture  ;  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  it 
goes  down,  yet  I  hope  for  some  propitious  breeze  of  kindly 
consideration.  If  I  am  pardoned  for  this  transgression,  I 
will  promise  not  to  offend  again — at  least  until  I  shall  have 
secured  an  indulgence  from  the  reading  world. 

J.  McQ. 

New  York,  November  4,  1884. 


CRUISE    OF    THE 

SCHOONER  Yacht  Montauk,  N.  Y.  Y.  C. 


Rear-Commodore  S.  R.  Platt,  Owner. 

Sailed  from  Pier  3  N.  R.,  February  21,  1884,  at  8.45  A.M, 
Returned  (anchored  off  Stapleton)  May  3,  1884,  at  11.40  P.M. 


SALOON. 


Rear-Commodore  S.  R.  Platt,  N.  Y.  Y.  C. 

{Land  and  Water  Clu/>), 

Mr.  John  R.  Platt,  N.  Y.  Y.  C. 

(Olympic  Ciub). 

Mr.  Thomas  B.  Asten,  N.  Y.  Y.  C.     ' 

{Olympic  Club). 

General  James  McQuade,  N.  Y.  Y.  C. 

{Carlton  Island  Club). 


OFFICERS    AND    CREW. 


Captain  Peter  N.  Breitfeld Sailijig-Mastcr. 

M.   L.  BuTTKE Mate'. 

Richard  Zauk Bonts-Mun. 

Charles  Goldon Quartennastcr. 

Paul  Weirauch " 

Olai--  Paulson Ihlc  Seaman. 

John  Peterson " 

Albert  Hoch " 

DiEDRICH    BoRNEMAN " 

August  Frata    " 

Louis  Krouser   Steward. 

Albert  Derr Alessroom  Ste^oard. 

William  Mayo Cook. 

Wilhelm  Becker Bov. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

I'AGR 

Outward  Bound, i 

Prefatory  Apology — Postage-stamps — Renowned  Travelers  :  Sind- 
bad,  Gulliver,  Munchausen,  Marco  Polo,  the  Jesuits — Prcster 
John — The  Fog — Fortune  in  Misfortune — The  Compass — Pro- 
longed Send-otT — Departure — The  Direct  Course — A  Smiling 
Sea, :-i3 


CHAPTER    II. 

Washington's  Birthday, 14 

The  Banquet — Toasts — The  Day  we  Celebrate — The  City  of  New 
York — The  Army  and  Navy — Woman — The  Growl  of  the  Hur- 
ricane, ..........         14-26 


CHAPTER   HI. 

The  Storm, 27 

No  Poppy-juice — Meteorology — Laying  to  — A  Disturbance — 'hker 
Fancies — Optical  Delusion  —  Life  Insurance — My  Own  I-uncr.il 
— The  Flute— .Mont  Ccnis— Old  Theatres— Tlic  Banshee — .A 
Daughter's  Devotion— Corked-up — Seasickness  Deprcssiuii  — 
The  Convent  Bell,       ........        27-41 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGE 

A  Harbor  Reached, 42 

Still  Below — A  Dilemma — Short  Commons — Under  Bare  Poles — 
Monsieur  Tonson  come  again — 29.50 — The  Barometer  Watch — 
A  let  up — Gulf-weed  —  Flying- fish  —  Ash  Wednesday  —  Ber- 
muda Light — Hamilton  Harbor,  .....        42-50 

CHAPTER  V. 

Bermuda, 51 

Bermuda  —  Settlement  —  Government  —  Departed  Glories  —  Reli- 
gion—  Revenues — Exports  and  Imports — Climate — Vegetables 
— Flowers — Water — Fruits — Dock-yard,     ....         51-64 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Hospitable  Bermuda, 65 

Letter-writing — Laziness  —  In  re  Darrclli —  Festivities — Prospero's 
Grot — The  Mess  Dinner — Benny  Havens,  Oh! — Uncle  John — 
The  Happy  Valley — Lily  Bower — At  Home — The  Hand- 
Clasp,  ..........        65-83 

CHAPTER   VII. 

At  Sea, 84 

A  Frustrated  Conspiracy — Getting  Away — A  Tortuous  Channel — 
Description  of  Yacht — A  Lazy  Life — Lounging  Occupation — 
Cloud  Scenery — Amusements — Sartorial — Pills — Detergent,     84-97 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Basse  Terre, 98 

An  Abortive  Sunrise — Washing  Decks — Sea-ditties — A  Shanty  Song 
— Sombrero — Saba — The  Rock-sail — St.  Eustatius — St.  Chris- 
topher— Basse  Terre — The  Yankee  Jack-knife — Hurricanes, 
Floods,  and  Pestilence — Dulcc-domum,      ....      98-112 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER    IX. 

TAGC 

St.  Kitt's, 113 

Iced-water  — Teeth  —  Tonsorial  —  Sharks  —  Roses  —  PeHcans  —  A 
Drive— Religions— St.  Patrick's  Day — Wonderful  Adventures 
with  Monkeys,     .........     1 13-125 


CHAPTER    X. 

Among  the  Islands, 126 

Lunacy — The  Old  Fire-Laddie — St.  Patrick's  Day  Orations  :  Ire- 
land :  A  Brave  Girl  :  Michael  Ouigley  :  A  Heroic  Woman — 
Montserrat — Ethiopian  Celts  —  Guadaloupe  —  The  Caribs  — 
Wind-Rainbow — Dominica — St.  Pierre — A  Great  Loss,     .     126-146 


CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Lone  Bird, 147 

CHAPTER    XII. 

St.  Pierre, 157 

The  Flag  of  Our  L^nion — The  Alliance — St.  Pierre — Negroes — Re- 
ligion— Fish — Blanchisseuses — A  Dazzling  Costume — A  State 
Dinner — Symposium — A  Soldier  No  More — Fireworks,      .     157-16S 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Martinique, 169 

The  Empress  Josephine — Morne  Rouge — Holy  Ground — Jardin  des 
Plantes — The  Fer-dc-lancc — Sunday  Inspection — Dijcuiur-dht- 
atoire — The  Loyal  Legionier,      ......     i6y-i8i 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAGE 

Sunday  in  Martinique, 182 

Tropical  Fruits — A  Full  Day's  Work  Sunday — Vespers — The  Club 
— The  Opera — II  Trovatore — A  Midnight  Visit  —  Reminis- 
cence— Lily-Pansy — The  Heart's  Rain-drop,      .         .         .     182-190 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Musical  Musings, 191 

Our  Chum — Thoughts  on  Music — Ballads — Plagiarism — "  Wearing 
of  the  Green" — "Sweet  By  and  By" — "  Aileen  Aroon  "  vs. 
"  Robin  Adair  "— "  Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee  "— "  Groves  of 
Blai-ney  " — "  Home,  Sweet  Home  " — The  Spanish  Main — Gulf 
of  Paria — Sunset,         ........     191-209 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Port  of  Spain, 210 

Discovery  of  Trinidad — Busy  Port  of  Spain — Race  Types — Coolies 
— Political  Ignorance  —  Vulgarisms  in  Language  —  Botanical 
Gardens — An  Impertinent  Bird,  .....     210-219 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Trinidad, 220 

Singing-birds — Taxidermy  —  Metempsychosis — "  Keb,  Sir  !  " — Pi- 
ratical Attack  —  Button-hole  Oratory  —  French  Courtesy  — 
Pitch  Lake — Asphalt — Flying  Oysters — Future  of  Trinidad,    220-228 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Through  the  Caribbean  Sea, 229 

Salutamus — A  Corkonian  Gaul — The  Dragon's  Mouth — Columbus 
— An  Apology — The  Trade-winds — Navigation — Dead-reckon- 
ing— A  Timely  Warning — Old  Fogies — A  Tender  Hour — ^The 
Same  Old  Moon — Serenade — Uncle  John  Romantic — Gam- 
mon,   ...........     229-243 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

PAGE 

CURA<;OA, 244 

The  Pilot — Fortifications — The  Dock — Peddlers — Custom  House — 
The  Church — Geneva — Roman  Organ — Jewish  Synagogue — 
Commerce — Pirates  —  Smugglers  — Vegetation — Water — Goats 
— Municipal  Division  — Vis  Inertia'  —  Streets  —  Romeo  and 
Juliet  — Vessels — Venezuela  —  Slavery — Negroes — Dialect — So- 
long,   244-261 

CHAPTI^R  XX. 

CURArOA.  Continued,         .........   262 

Peter  Stuyvesant — Government — Orthoepy — Mr.  Gaertse — Wages 
— Straw-plaiting  —  Grosira  —  Venomous  Reptiles  —  Cactus — 
Zuikertiuntze — A  Frugal  Repast — Fireworks — The  Governor 
— A  Glass  of  Wine  —  Religion  —  Sunday  Observance  —  Light 
Clothing — A  Tableau — Historical  Sketch — Arcadia,  .         .    262-2S1 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

Religious  Services, 282 

Bird  and  Beast — Pretty  Pets — Misty  Fancies — A  Cruel  Wrong — 
Palm  Sunday — The  Thrilling  Sea — Church  Service — Ave  Sanc- 
tissima — Prayer — The  Sailor's  Yarn — Resurgam,       .         .    2S2-297 

CHAPTER    XXn. 
Port  Royal — Kingston, 29S 

A  Carib  Canoe — Port  Royal — The  Boatswain's  Dulcet  Cry — Fish- 
serenade — Kingston  —  Streets — Rodney  :  Nelson  —  .Market  — 
Shadowy  Horse  —  Soldiers  —  Drive  into  Country — \'ir:4il — 
Sugar-making — Rum — The  Passover — Good  Friday — The  jews 
— Nasus  Hebraicas,     ........     -9^-^^^ 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

PAGE 

Jamaica, 314 

Historical — Buccaneers — Representative  Government — Emancipa- 
tion— Native  Americans— The  Suffrage — Educational  and  Prop- 
erty Qualifications  —  Humbug  —  Population  —  Productions  — 
Coolies — Cemeterial — Religious  Divisions — Imports  and  Ex- 
ports— Luxurious  Bosh,       .......     314-331 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
Into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 332 

A  Short  Sail — Filibusters — Sirens — Sailor's  Hornpipe — The  Lone 
Fisherman — New  Line  to  Havana — Easter  Sunday — A  Miracle 
— Gulf  of  Mexico — Gallic  Downfall — Chin-music — Havana,  332-340 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

Sunday  vs.  Sabbath, 341 

Exordium — The  Decalogue — The  Sabbath — Douay  vs.  King  James 
— The  Gospels  —  Sunday — Constantine — The  Reformation — 
Luther,  Calvin,  Melancthon — Augsburg  Confession — Oueen 
Elizabeth — Old  Puritans — New  England — Modern  Puritans — 
The  Legal  Sabbath — Rest  and  Recreation — Faith — -Perora- 
tion,         341-358 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Havana, 359 

The  Streets — Soldiers — Policemen — Yellow  Fever — The  Foul  Har- 
bor— Volunteers — A  Minder — Aguero — Political — Morro  Castle 
— Jelly-fish — A  Night  Scene — Domestic  Cigars — Whistling- 
Milk— Oxen— The  Spanish  Yoke, 359-372 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

PAGE 

Cuban  Customs, 373 

Slavery —  Shopkeepers  — Convicts  —  Cigars  —  Lotteries — Sunday — 
The  Cathedral— A  P'ull  Day's  Work— IJuU-fights— The  Pilgrim- 
age— Succotash — Echoes  of  Travel — Beautiful  Faith — The  Ger- 
mans— Emblems — Catalans — Exit  Romcria,       .         .         .     373-391 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Mr.  Poynings  Roggster, 392 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Florida, 406 

Departure  from  Havana — Cuba  Pobre — Rotten  Currency — Fish- 
ing— Mourning  Pharos — St.  Augustine — Jacksonville — Palatka 
— A  Gentle  Swear — A  Cow  Railroad — Minorcans — Fruitful 
Florida,       ..........     406-419 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Home  Again, 420 

A  Red-letter  Day — Song  of  the  Legion — Homeward  Bound— The 
Maypole  —  Drunkenness — Temperance  7'^-.  Teetotalism — The 
Bible — False  Prophets — Mohammedanism — The  Bishop's  Tem- 
perance Sermon — Puns  —  Erasmus  in  Praise  of  Folly — The 
Montauk  Song — Finis,         .......    420-441 


THE  CRUISE    OF  THE   MONTAUK. 


Lord  Bateman  was  a  noble  lord, 
A  noble  lord  of  high  degree  ; 
He  shipped  himself  on  board  a  ship, 
Sonic  foreign  country  he  would  see. 


CHAPTER    I. 

OUTWARD   BOUND. 


Prefatory  Apology — Postage-stamps — Renowned  Travelers  :  Sindbad, 
CiuUivcr,  Munchausen,  Marco  Polo,  the  Jesuits — Prester  John— 
The  Fog — Fortune  in  Misfortune— The  Compass — Prolonged  Send- 
off — Departure — The  Direct  Course — A  Smiling  Sea. 

H.AMii.rox,  Bermuda,  February  28,  18S4. 
When  I  accepted  the  invitation  of  my  kind  friend,  Commo- 
dore Piatt,  to  accompany  liim  in  his  yacht  on  a  winter's 
cruise  to  the  West  Indies,  you  asked  me  to  write  you  from 
beyond  the  seas,  so  that  you  might  receive  letters  embelHshed 
with  foreign  postage-stamps.  I  was  somewhat  nettled  at  this 
request  to  drop  a  line  merely  to  hook  up  varied  postal  de- 
signs from  abroad,  for  it  implied  incapacity  to  make  my  cor- 
respondence interesting,  assuming  that  all  the  value  would  be 
on  the  outside,  like  a  new  hat  on  the  head  of  a  dude  ;  so  I 
resolved,  in  a  spirit  of  pique,  to  essay  the  writing  of  letters 
that  would  have  intrinsic  value  as  well  as  outside  stamp  at- 
tractions. 


2  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Whether  I  shall  succeed  is  problematical.  My  literary- 
ability  is  of  doubtful  merit,  and  if  I  have  any  skill  at  all  it  is 
not  in  the  line  of  description  ;  at  least  I  have  never  made  an 
attempt  in  that  direction,  and  have  grave  distrust  of  powers 
which  have  not  been  exercised  by,  nor  subjected  to  the  test 
of,  experience.  I  have  traveled  in  many  lands,  but  never 
wrote  anything  from  them  save  infrequent  laconic  epistles  to 
the  family,  containing  nothing  important  except  requests  for 
further  remittances.  But  I  shall  make  an  effort  on*this  cruise 
(the  greatest  effort  of  my  life)  under  an  extraordinary  stimu- 
lus. I  shall  dip  my  pen  in  the  fountain  of  deep  affection,  and 
bring  loving  inspiration  to  the  surface  of  these  letters.  If  I 
fail  to  make  them  entertaining,  you  will  at  least  receive  the 
objects  of  your  desire — the  postage-stamps.  If  you  should 
happen  to  find  anything  attractive,  I  shall  be  fully  recom- 
pensed, in  whatever  pleasure  you  may  derive  from  their  peru- 
sal, for  the  pains  I  shall  take  to  render  them  worthy  your 
acceptance. 

It  is  possible  that  I  may  be  able  to  present  some  jottings 
of  personal  observation  not  absolutely  devoid  of  novelty,  as 
few,  except  those  who  have  visited  them,  are  familiar  with  the 
West  Indies.  Europe  is  so  well  known,  through  the  multi- 
tude of  descriptions  by  tourists,  that  it  is  difficult  to  pick  up 
anything  noteworthy  in  its  well-gleaned  fields  ;  but  we  are 
comparatively  so  uninformed  regarding  the  islands  I  am  about 
to  visit,  that  something  may  be  found  to  communicate  not 
altogether  trite  and  common-place.  I  have  had  a  thrilling  ex- 
perience already ;  nothing  remarkable  in  the  occurrence 
itself,  for  the  winds  have  blown  and  the  waves  have  rolled 
ever  since  "  the  Spirit  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters," 
but  it  was  a  novel  encounter  with  a  hurricane  in  a  smaller 
vessel  that  I  had  ever  been  in  before  during  a  gale.  The 
attempt  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  little  unpleasantness  through 


OUTWARD    BOUND.  3 

which  we  passed  will  involve  my  experimental  effort  at  de- 
scription, and  if  I  succeed,  I  shall  be  encouraged  to  proceed 
with  less  difficult  subjects.  Not  that  I  would  be  presump- 
tuous enough  to  venture  upon  describing  a  storm  at  sea,  for 
it  would  require  an  able  writer  to  portray  by  adequate  ex- 
pression that  sublime  exhibition  of  majestic  force.  I  shall 
simply  tell  you  how  I  felt  about  it. 

I  do  not  expect  in  this  brief  voyage  to  meet  with  wonder- 
ful adventures,  such  as  are  recorded  in  the  veracious  chron- 
icles of  Sindbad  the  Sailor,  or  Gulliver's  travels.  I  take  occa- 
sion to  remark  here  that,  when  a  boy,  before  the  days  of 
dime  novels  and  the  trashy  compounds  that  now  supply  the 
youthful  mind,  I  devoured  the  pages  of  Gulliver.  I  never 
believed  all  the  marvels  contained  in  Swift's  great  work.  I 
regarded  Gulliver  as  some  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dub- 
lin, sent  out  as  a  special  correspondent,  by  an  enterprising 
newspaper,  on  a  political  survey,  who  drew  upon  his  imagina- 
tion to  offset  the  drafts  on  his  publisher.  It  is  now  generally 
conceded — except  out  in  Kansas,  where  they  still  read  the 
agricultural  columns  in  farmers'  journals — that  the  adventures 
of  Baron  Munchausen  are  fabulous.  Mungo  Park  told  the 
truth,  perhaps,  about  the  compassionate  negro  women  ;  but 
I  never  credited  the  description  of  certain  animals  by  Vol- 
taire. The  voyages  of  Captain  Cook  are  full  of  interest ;  and 
funny  things  were  "did"  by  Captain  Kidd  "as  he  sailed."' 
The  invasion  of  Mexico  by  Cortez  afforded  material  for  nar- 
ratives of  absorbing  interest ;  only  excelled  in  modern  times 
by  the  thrilling  adventures  of  the  daring  Sergeant  l^atcs, 
who  fearlessly  invaded  the  United  States  with  a  United 
States  flag,  and  ran  the  risk  of  having  it  seized  for  debt  at  a 
village  tavern.  Pizarro  is  a  figure  enchanting  to  the  young 
reader,  who  is  afflicted  by  the  sorrows  of  Cora. 

The  travels  of  Father  De  Smet  among  the  Indians  be- 


4  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

yond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  are  highly  entertaining  ;  as  are 
the  accounts  of  the  discovery  of  Peruvian  bark  by  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  in  Paraguay.  It  is  the  bark  of  a  tree.  Rome 
was  saved  by  the  hissing  of  geese,  but  it  remained  for  the 
Jesuits  to  work  a  miracle  and  make  a  tree  bark  to  chase 
away  fever.  It  may  have  been  a  deception,  however,  for 
there  is  a  story  told  (possibly  an  invention  of  the  Pope  Joan 
order)  that  the  bark  was  produced  by  one  of  their  own  Or- 
der, an  Irish  priest  named  Quinquin,  suffering  from  the  influ- 
enza. He  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  relation  of  a  sailor 
nicknamed  Tar  Quin,  a  beastly  fellow,  mentioned  unfavor- 
ably by  Shakespeare  and  other  chroniclers  of  the  times,  but 
who,  if  he  lived  in  our  day,  would  probably  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  Legislature  on  the  Reform  ticket.  There  are  cer- 
tain antiquated  notions  about  the  sanctity  of  the  marital  rela- 
tion which,  in  the  progress  of  the  age,  require  readjustment. 
Some,  however,  readjust  themselves  without  regard  to  law. 

I  don't  expect  to  see  anything  in  my  travels  so  strange  as 
the  land  described  by  Prester  John,  in  his-  letter  to  the  Em- 
peror Manuel  Comnenus,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  by  his  private  secretary,  one  Morey.  The  Morcy 
letter  is  still  preserved  in  the  tomb  of  Barnum  as  a  mcuiento 
inori.  I  shall  not  give  all  the  marvelous  things  he  says  in 
this  letter  of  Prester  John,  for  the  Morey  writes,  the  less  I 
believe,  but  here  are  some  extracts.  He  commences  mod- 
estly enough  : 

'"John,  Priest  by  the  Almighty  power  of  God  and  the 
Might  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of 
Lords,  to  his  friend  Emanuel,  Prince  of  Constantinople,  greet- 
ing, wishing  him  health,  prosperity,  and  the  continuance  of 
Divine  favor." 

His  household  service  was  performed  by  a  small  staff,  con- 
sisting of  the  following:  servants  : 


OUTWARD    BOUND.  5 

"Seven  kings  wait  upon  us  monthly,  in  turn,  with  sixty- 
two  dukes,  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  counts  and  marquises  ; 
and  twelve  archbishops  sit  at  table  with  us  on  our  right,  and 
twenty  bishops  on  the  left,  besides  the  patriarch  of  St.  Thomas, 
the  Sarmatian  Protopopc,  and  the  Archpope  of  Susa.  Our 
lord  high  steward  is  a  primate  and  king,  our  cup-bearer  is  an 
archbishop  and  king,  our  chamberlain  a  bishop  and  king, 
our  marshal  a  king  and  abbot." 

The  palace  in  which  "  our  Supereminency  "  resides  is  par- 
tially described  as  follows  : 

"Ceilings,  joists,  and  architrave  are  of  Sethym  wood,  the 
roof  of  ebony,  which  can  never  catch  fire.  Over  the  gable 
of  the  palace  are,  at  the  extremities,  two  golden  apples,  in 
each  of  which  are  two  carbuncles,  so  that  the  gold  may  shine 
by  day,  and  the  carbuncles  by  night.  The  greater  gates  of 
the  palace  are  of  sardius,  with  the  horn  of  the  horned  snake 
inwrought,  so  that  no  one  can  bring  poison  within." 

"The  other  portals  are  of  ebony.  The  windows  are  of 
crystal  ;  the  tables  are  partly  of  gold,  partly  of  amethyst,  and 
the  columns  supporting  the  tables  are  partly  of  ivory,  partly 
of  amethyst.  The  court  in  which  we  watch  the  jousting  is 
floored  with  onyx,  in  order  to  increase  the  courage  of  the 
combatants." 

This  description  of  his  house  may  be  exaggerated.  There 
is  always  a  little  latitude  given  in  these  matters.  Perhaps 
this  was  an  advertisement  of  sale  on  a  mortgage  given  to  his 
plumber  to  pay  for  stopping  a  leak  in  the  water-pipe. 

The  territory  of  Prester  John  contained  a  variety  of  ani- 
mals, as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  list,  which  reads  like 
one  of  Faughpore's  menagerie  posters  : 

"  Our  land  is  the  home  of  elephants,  dromedaries,  camels, 
crockadiles,  meta-collinarum,  cametennus,  tcnsevetcs,  wild 
apes,  white  and  red  lions,  white  bears,  white  merles,  crickets. 


6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

griffins,  tigers,  lamias,  hyenas,  wild  horses,  wild  oxen,  and 
wild  men,  men  with  horns,  one-eyed,  men  with  eyes  before 
and  behind,  centaurs,  fauns,  satyrs,  pygmies,  forty-ell-high 
giants,  Cyclopses,  and  similar  women  ;  it  is  the  home  too  of 
the  phenix,  and  of  nearly  all  living  animals.  We  have  some 
people  subject  to  us  who  feed  on  the  flesh  of  men  and  of 
prematurely  born  animals,  and  who  never  fear  death.  When 
any  of  these  people  die,  their  friends  and  relatives  eat  him 
ravenously,  for  they  regard  it  as  a  main  duty  to  munch 
human  flesh.  Their  names  are  Gog  and  Magog,  Anie,  Agit, 
Azenach,  Fommeperi,  Befari,  Conei-Samante,  Agrimandri, 
Vintefolei,  Casbei,  Alanei,  These  and  similar  nations  were 
shut  in  behind  lofty  mountains  by  Alexander  the  Great,  tow- 
ard the  North.  We  lead  them  at  our  pleasure  against  our 
foes,  and  neither  man  nor  beast  is  left  undevoured  if  our 
Majesty  gives  the  requisite  permission.  And  when  all  our 
foes  are  eaten,  then  we  return  with  our  hosts  home  again." 

This  is  an  economical  way  to  dispose  of  prisoners  ;  it  saves 
the  cost  of  transportation  and  maintenance.  Instead  of  being 
compelled  to  maintain  them,  they  maintain  you.  Had  this 
system  been  in  operation  during  our  war,  we  would  not  now 
be  compelled  to  endure  the  infliction  of  flatulent  political 
orators  who  ruthlessly  "proceed  to  state  and  relate  how  our 
poor  prisoners  suffered  at  Andersonville."  In  the  list  of 
monsters  I  find  no  mention  of  the  accident-insurance  agent. 
He  must  be  a  modern  animal.  Would  that  he  were  of  the 
Megatherii  or  Plesiosauri. 

I  fancy  that  Prester  John  was  a  mythical  potentate,  al- 
though the  indefatigable  traveller  Sir  John  Mandevil  explains 
his  priestly  title,  and  Marco  Polo  identifies  him  with  a  Tartar 
Khan.  Uncle  John  (no  relation  of  Prester  John)  remarked 
that  if  the  description  of  this  truculent  despot  be  correct,  he 
must  have  been  a  hard  case  ;  a  sort  of  austere    Khan.     I 


OUTWARD    BOUXD.  7 

don't  know  what  he  meant ;  it  was  some  poor  pun,  I  suppose. 
My  main  reason  for  doubting  the  existence  of  this  mighty 
monarch  is  the  claim  put  forth  in  this  extract  from  his  letter  : 

"  All  riches  such  as  are  upon  the  world,  our  Magnificence 
possesses  in  superabundance.  With  us  no  one  lies,  for  he 
who  speaks  a  lie  is  thenceforth  regarded  as  dead  ;  he  is  no 
more  thought  of,  or  honored  by  us.  No  vice  is  tolerated 
by  us." 

Surely  this  must  be  a  forgery.  The  idea  of  a  country 
where  nobody  lies.  We  cannot  grasp  it  in  our  favored  land, 
where  nearly  everybody  lies  ;  except  railroad  managers  who 
become  millionaires. 

It  is  evident  that  Ireland  was  within  his  dominions,  for  he 
says,  "  Our  land  streams  with  honey,  and  is  overflowing  with 
milk.  In  one  region  grows  no  poisonous  herb,  nor  docs  a 
querulous  frog  ever  quack  in  it ;  no  scorpion  exists,  nor  does 
any  serpent  glide  among  the  grass,  nor  can  any  poisonous 
animals  exist  in  it,  or  injure  any  one." 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  this,  the  Irish  St.  Brandan  sailed  away 
from  the  land  of  my  forefathers  in  search  of  Paradise,  and 
found  it  somewhere  east  of  Ireland.  The  Green  Isle  itself 
would  have  been  selected  as  the  site  of  Paradise  but  for  a 
climatic  obstacle  :  the  snake  who  tempted  Eve  couldn't  li\e 
on  Irish  ground.  I  mention  this  to  rebut  the  claim  put  forth 
by  certain  over-zealous  members  of  the  Land  League,  that 
Ireland  was  actually  the  Garden  of  h^den  until  the  landlord 
came  in.  As  St.  Brandan  found  Paradise  in  the  Last,  there 
is  no  use  of  my  looking  for  it  in  the  West  Indies.  Besides, 
my  paradise  nearer  home  is  good  enough  for  me. 

You  must  not  expect  me  to  discover  Atlantis  or  the  For- 
tunate Isles,  for  I  shall  be  too  busy,  keeping  an  eye  on  the 
steward  to  see  that  he  has  the  mineral-water  box  packed  with 
ice,  and  jealously  watching  the  cook  lest  he  delay  the  dinner; 


8  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

which  duties  devolve  on  me  as  navigator  of  the  ship's  saloon. 
Still  I  shall  send  you  something  that  may  vary  the  dull  ex- 
panse of  news  in  the  Utica  newspapers,  regarding  the  color 
of  Reuben  Snifkin's  new  barn  on  Quality  Hill,  the. quantity  of 
doughnuts  contributed  at  Elder  Silas  Tartough's  donation- 
party  at  Empeyville,  or  conveying  the  startling  intelligence 
that  Ellie  Dodkins  had  gone  to  spend  two  days  with  Daisie 
Schlunker  at  Log  City. 

You  know  we  intended  to  sail  on  the  iith  of  February, 
and  the  yacht  was  at  the  dock  that  day,  with  stores  aboard, 
patent-leather  pumps  packed,  and  everything  ship-shape, 
ready  for  the  voyage.  I  provided  a  sou'wester  (a  head  cover- 
ing of  oiled  silk,  something  like  a  poke-bonnet  with  a  long 
cape,  a  sort  of  cross  between  a  coal-scuttle  and  a  sun-um- 
brella), water-proof  boots  (the  maker  wants  me  to  mention  his 
name  here,  but  I  won't),  and  a  heavy  india  rubber  overcoat, 
formerly  lyricised  as  hooptedoodendoo.  I  have  not  worn 
them  yet,  but  I  feel  the  nautical  influence  of  possession,  and 
already  speak  of  north  as  "  noathe,"  and  no  longer  verdantly 
talk  of  going  down-stairs  to  take  something.  All  we  needed 
for  a  start  was  a  nor'westwind  (we  don't  say  northwest  in  the 
navy)  and  the  lifting  of  a  pertinacious  fog,  which  stuck  like  a 
book-peddler,  or  a  porous  plaster  to  a  gauze  undershirt  in 
August.  We  waited  patiently  for  ten  days,  but  the  fog  didn't 
lift  as  much  as  a  shoveler  in  the  street-cleaning  brigade  ;  nor 
did  the  wind  shift,  but  was  as  obstinate  as  Carl  Schurz  in  his 
adherence  to  one  political  party.  That  nor'wester  sulked 
away  up  in  Alaska  or  somewhere  else,  utterly  disregarding 
our  bland  invitations  to  pay  us  a  visit  east  and  join  in  a  send- 
off.  We  had  a  send-off  every  day  ;  our  friends  congregating 
in  hilarious  numbers,  devouring  the  ship's  stores,  and  wishing 
us  boil  voyage  with  kindly  fervor  and  unabated  enthusiasm 
which  seemed  to  grow  with  what  it  fed  upon.    That  send-off 


OUTWARD    I'.OUND.  9 

became  as  monotonous  as  the  Mulligan  letters,  sermons  de- 
scribing the  novel  horrors  of  intemperance,  or  diatribes  on 
the  infamy  of  Governors  who  pardon  men  improperly  sen- 
tenced so  as  to  override  our  liberties  with  convict  votes. 
Undaunted  by  the  unpropitious  weather,  our  visitors  contin- 
ued to  throng  to  the  send-off,  making  away  with  edibles,  bib- 
ables  and  fumibles,  and  heartily  promising  to  call  again 
to-morrow,  with  an  alacritous  cheerfulness  and  sympathetic 
vigor  that  evinced  the  greatest  interest  in  our  detention.  We 
were  enabled  during  this  sluggish  period  to  feel  the  force  of 
La  Rochefoucauld's  apophthegm,  that  we  always  derive  more 
or  less  consolation  from  the  misfortunes  of  even  our  best 
friends.  Yet  we  found  much  comfort  in  these  visits,  without 
which  our  stay,  tied  up  to  the  dock,  would  have  been  ex- 
tremely dull,  dreary,  and  disagreeable.  The  tie  that  bound 
us  so  long  to  that  send-off  was  a  strong  one,  not  easily 
broken. 

The  delay,  although  vexatious  to  the  voyagers,  had  its 
compensation  for  me,  as  it  enabled  me  to  attend  a  ceremony 
where  my  presence  was  particularly  desired  by  those  inter- 
ested. It  was  a  coincidence  worthy  of  attention,  that  the 
very  afternoon  of  this  event  the  wind  veered  around  suddenly, 
coming  out  of  the  northwest,  the  skies  cleared,  and  we  were 
permitted  to  depart,  as  if  the  weather  had  been  waiting  for 
this  event  before  giving  us  a  clearance  to  sail.  Whether  this 
was  a  providential  interposition,  as  was  claimed  by  some 
pious  ladies  who  had  assailed  Providence  with  prayerful  im- 
portunity, I  am  unable  to  say.  I  have  not  the  ear  of  the 
Court,  and  am  not  consulted  regarding  the  framing  of  decrees 
at  Special  Term  ;  but  it  certainly  was  remarkable  that  the 
clearing  of  the  sky  and  the  performance  of  this  ceremony 
were  coincident.  It  was  regarded  as  an  auspicious  omen, 
not  only  because  the  opportune  detention   rendered  my  par 


lO  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

ticipation  possible,  and  spared  the  disappointment  that  ab- 
sence would  have  caused  ;  but  because  of  the  superstition 
connected  with  the  old  saying,  "  Happy  the  bride  the  sun 
shines  on." 

I  bought  a  compass.  Not  a  large  one,  for  I  am  not  strong 
enough  as  a  mariner  yet  to  wrestle  with  a  full-sized  instru- 
ment, but  a  miniature  afifair,  to  hang  on  my  watch-chain  as  a 
charm.  I  can  get  points  in  navigation  on  that  compass  ;  I  could 
see  them  as  soon  as  I  put  it  on.  What  is  a  sailor  without  a  com- 
pass ?  Having  shipped  behind  the  mast,  that  guide  became 
indispensable.  Without  it,  I  might  have  lost  my  bearings  in 
tacking  up  Broadway,  and  strayed  into  Trinity  Church  in- 
stead of  the  Stevens  House,  or  gone  ashore  at  the  City  Hall, 
and  been  wrecked  on  promontorial  Hubert  O.  Thompson. 

At  length,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  February,  A.D,  1884, 
the  good  schooner  yacht  Montauk,  flying  the  broad  pennant 
of  Rear  Commodore  Samuel  R.  Piatt,  New  York  Yacht  Club, 
left  her  berth,  at  Pier  3  North  River,  and  sailed  away.  As 
we  were  towed  out  of  the  slip  before  nine  o'clock,  it  was  too 
early  for  our  friends  to  give  us  the  final  send-off;  for  which 
extensive  preparation  had  been  made,  with  full-dress  rehear- 
sals and  consumption  of  genuine  properties,  every  day  for 
nearly  two  weeks.  As  they  were  not  present  to  receive  any- 
thing else,  we  gave  them  the  slip  ;  that  is,  we  left  it  behind, 
and  they  can  occupy  it  if  they  pay  wharfage.  That  send-off 
was  linked  sweetness  (with  a  dash  of  bitters  and  bit  of  lemon- 
peel)  long  drawn  out.  It  must  be  adhering  to  the  vicinity  of 
South  Ferry  yet.  It  certainly  did  not  come  off.  It  may  be 
wandering  around  there  like  an  uneasy  ghost,  crowned  with 
faded  flowers  and  smelling  of  rum  and  tobacco.  After  suc- 
cessive adjournments  from  day  to  day,  when  the  time  came 
for  the  sine  die  motion,  there  was  no  one  on  the  dock  to  make 
it.     We  had  often  welcomed  the  coming  guest,  but  there  was 


OUTWARD   BOUND.  II 

none  to  speed  our  parting.  As  there  were  no  starters  in  the 
stand  to  give  us  the  scnd-ofif,  we  went  off  on  our  own  hook, 
to  Sandy  Hook. 

It  was  bitter  cold  as  we  sailed  down  the  Bay,  and  we  only 
remained  on  deck  long  enough  to  acknowledge  the  farewell 
salute  from  Miss  Walke's  flag  at  Cliff  Cottage  ;  when,  as  it 
was  "a  nipping  and  an  eager  air,''  we  went  below,  eager  to 
utilize  the  proper  facilities  afforded  there  for  nipping.  We 
knew,  however,  that  many  hours  would  not  elapse  before  the 
heavy  clothing  would  be  thrown  aside  and  we  would  be  lux- 
uriating in  sun-baths,  shirt-sleeved  and  straw-hatted.  Soon 
after  the  tug-boat  cast  off,  the  nor'wester,  which  had  blown 
tingling  blasts  all  the  way  down  when  we  didn't  need  its  help, 
treacherously  deserted  us,  and  we  dawdled  along  for  some 
hours  in  a  calm.  A  moderate  breeze  sprang  up  in  the  after- 
noon, and  we  started  lazily  on  the  direct  course,  S.S.E.,  for 
Bermuda. 

There  had  been  a  great  difference  of  opinion  regarding 
tlie  adoption  of  this  short  course  instead  of  the  longer  one 
usually  taken — down  the  coast  to  Cape  Hatteras,  thence 
across  to  the  islands.  Strong  arguments  were  offered  for 
both,  but  the  weight  of  opinion  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
coast  route.  When  it  was  learned  that  Commodore  Piatt  had 
characteristically  determined  to  keep  on  the  straight  path, 
there  were  many  dubious  shakes  of  the  head  and  prognosti- 
cations of  disaster  among  the  sea-going  cognoscenti.  One 
newspaper,  which  contained  a  description  of  the  yacht,  pre- 
dicted that  if  this  course  were  pursued  there  would  be 
*'  divine  services  aboard  the  Montauk  ;  "  which  was  true  in 
any  event,  as  religious  observance  is  habitual  with  us  on  a 
cruise.  This  prediction,  however,  contemplated  ministrations 
in  extremis.  The  foreboding  came  near  being  right,  but  not 
quite.     It  was  a  tight  squeeze  ;  but  the  Montauk  is  too  proud 


12  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

to  go  down  in  anything  but  a  hurricane  of  the  first  magni- 
tude. It  must  be  first-class,  A  i.  No  second-rate  gale  can 
make  her  yield,  if  you  please. 

The  claim  in  favor  of  the  coast  route  is,  that  in  case  of 
heavy  weather  some  accessible  port  might  be  made,  while  by 
the  direct  course,  in  the  event  of  a  hurricane,  disablement,  or 
serious  accident  of  any  kind,  the  yacht  would  be  on  a  com- 
paratively unfrequented  waste  of  waters,  out  of  the  track  of 
vessels,  far  from  succor,  except  such  as  fortunate  chance 
might  bring.  That  this  objection  was  well  founded,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  during  our  seven  days'  voyage  to  this  port 
we  saw  no  vessels. 

Perhaps  I  can  explain  the  difference  in  routes  in  this  way  : 
Suppose  you  were  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Washington 
Square  and  desired  to  go  to  Fourth  Street.  Taking  the 
direct  course,  you  would  go  through  the  square  transversely, 
instead  of  going  along  Waverley  Place  and  down  University 
Place,  which  would  be  the  usual  course,  to  make  it  analogous 
to  this  description  of  the  Hatteras  route.  In  one  case,  you 
would  have  the  houses  along  the  street  for  refuge  should  ac- 
cident happen  ;  in  the  other,  you  would  be  in  the  open  square, 
with  only  those  near  who  happened  to  be  passing. 

It  may  be  that  the  adoption  of  the  direct  course  showed 
more  courage  than  discretion,  but  I  am  glad  we  took  it,  for 
during  three  days  the  seaworthiness  of  the  Montauk  was 
demonstrated  by  extreme  tests  to  which  yachts  are  rarely 
subjected  ;  fully  justifying  the  confidence  of  Commodore  Piatt, 
who,  relying  on  her  stanchness  and  buoyancy,  disregarded 
ominous  warnings  and  sailed  straight  for  Bermuda.  The 
Montauk  is  a  new  boat,  not  yet  two  years  old,  and  while  she 
had  exhibited  unequaled  sailing  qualities,  many  yachting 
quid-nicncs  prophesied  that  she  might  do  well  enough  in  sum- 
mer-cruising waters,  but  would  fail  if  she  encountered  hea\'y 


OUTWARD   BOUND.  I  3 

seas,  to  meet  which  keel-boats  were  better  adapted  by  their 
construction.  We  can  now  huigh  at  the  croakers.  She  has 
come  out  of  the  test  triumphantly,  and,  while  renowned  as  an 
unrivaled  swift  sailer,  can  claim  to  be  quite  as  good  as  an  able 
sea-boat.  A  noble. yacht  is  the  Montauk.  If  she  were  not, 
I  might  not  be  here  to  wTite  you  this  letter. 

We  sailed  along  under  a  clear  skv  Thursday,  not  makincr 
much  headway,  but  basking  lazily  in  the  sunshine.  It  blew 
quite  fresh  at  night,  making  it  necessary  to  reef  the  mainsail. 
Sleep  was  difficult,  owing  to  the  unaccustomed  motion,  and 
the  lee-boards  were  required,  but  toward  morning  the  wind 
moderated,  and  Friday  opened  delightfully  warm  and  balmy. 
We  sat  on  deck,  without  overcoats,  and  enjoyed  keenly  the 
beautiful  spectacle.  There  were  no  high  waves  running,  but 
the  sea  pulsed  in  smiling  ripples  ;  the  dark  blue  expanse,  re- 
lieved by  gleams  which  burst  out  in  unending  repetition,  was 
like  some  vast  plaque  of  oxidized  silver,  from  the  indented 
laminations  of  which  rays  of  reflected  light  glinted  in  multi- 
tudinous sparkles. 


CHAPTER   II. 

WASHINGTON'S    BIRTHDAY. 

The  Banquet — Toasts — The  Day  we  Celebrate — The  City  of  New  York 
— The  Army  and  Navy — Woman — The  Growl  of  the  Hurricane. 

Hamilton  Harbor,  February  28,  1884. 
It  was  Washington's  Birthday,  and  we  observed  the  Feast 
of  the  Father  of  his  Country  in  due  and  ancient  form.  Being 
but  the  second  day  out,  we  had  abundance  of  deHcacies 
aboard,  which  had  escaped  the  ravening  touch  of  the  send- 
off,  to  eke  out  the  "  salt-horse  "  and  "  dandy-funk  "  on  which 
we  poor  sailors  suffer.  The  bill  of  fare  was  excellent.  Our 
steward,  Louis  Krouser,  is  well  up  in  the  duties  of  his  most 
important  office,  and  the  cook,  venerable  Doctor  William 
Mayo,  aged  sixty-nine,  descendant  of  an  African  prince,  is  a 
chef  v^oYthy  to  wear  the  cordon  blcic  in  the  kitchen  of  an  am- 
bassador (always  saving  and  excepting  the  American).  After 
the  cloth  was  removed,  toasts  appropriate  to  the  occasion 
were  offered  and  responded  to  in  the  usual  manner. 

In  offering  the  first  toast,  "The  Day  we  Celebrate,"  the 
Commodore  said  : 

"  Gentlemen:  In  proposing  this  sentiment  I  beg  leave  to 
premise  by  congratulating  you  upon  the  propitious  breezes 
that  are  wafting  us  gently  to  our  first  harbor  of  destination. 
Before  our  departure  some  fears  were  expressed  by  anxious 
friends  that,  owing  to  continuous  fogs  and  adverse  winds,  we 
might  experience  rough  weather  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  but  we 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  I  5 

have  entered  it  without  observing  any  unusual  commotion. 
We  have  not  been  compelled  to  take  the  ordinary  precautions 
and  set  the  table-racks,  for  here  we  are,  gliding  along  on  an 
even  keel  as  comfortably  as  if  seated  around  a  table  in  the 
Gilsey  House.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  there  is  assurance  of 
continued  good  weather." 

(Here  I  mumbled  a  feeble  protest,  based  upon  a  cloud- 
observation  I  had  taken  in  the  afternoon,  but  in  my  fresh 
seamanship  I  dared  not  assert  too  boldly  the  conviction  I  en- 
tertained ;  which  will  be  referred  to  further  on.)  The  Com- 
modore continued  : 

"  The  day  we  celebrate  is  a  theme  for  the  loftiest  inspira- 
tion of  the  poet,  the  orator's  most  impassioned  rhetoric,  the 
grandest  efforts  of  the  painter's  pencil.  I  cannot  do  justice 
to  Washington,  and  shall  not  dwell  at  length  upon  his  colos- 
sal figure  in  history.  Although  he  owned  slaves,  drank 
rum,  and  played  cards,  this  truly  great  and  good  man,  like 
Deacon  Richard  Smith,  had  none  of  the  blemishes  which  un- 
fortunately disfigure  the  private  characters  of  many  in  public 
life.  His  slaves  were  well  fed,  well  clothed,  well  treated  ;  he 
was  kind  to  them,  and  indeed  occupied  toward  them  a  sort 
of  patriarchal  relation.  His  rum  was  good  ;  none  of  your 
modern  simulations  and  D.  T.  blendings,  and  he  played  a 
good  game  of  whist.  He  was  a  soldier  stanch  and  firm,  who 
could  not  be  beguiled  into  going  in  on  a  weak  hand,  nor 
could  he  be  raised  out  if  he  held  them  strong.  Take  him  for 
all  in  all,  we  shall  not  probably  look  upon  his  like  again  in 
the  presidential  chair :  I  do  not  intend  to  become  a  candi- 
date. Washington  himself  could  not  hope  for  success  in  tlicse 
days,  and  for  the  same  reason  that  I  would  decline  the  nomi- 
nation, even  were  I  dragged  to  the  Lupercal  by  Keely's 
motor — he  could  not  tell  a  lie. 

"This  owner  of  slaves,  drinker  of  rum,  and  player  of  cards  ; 


l6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

this  great  soldier,  wise  statesman,  incorruptible  patriot,  and 
dignified  and  courtly  gentleman,  will  forever  hold  the  highest 
place  in  the  regard  of  his  countrymen,  as  fast  as  they  arrive 
from  Ireland  and  Germany.  Who  can  estimate  the  magni- 
tude of  the  boon  conferred  on  mankind  by  the  event  we  arc 
met  to  commemorate  ;  for  which  the  world  is  indebted  in 
some  degree  to  his  worthy  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton ;  to  whose  memory  I  beg  leave  to  return  the  sincere 
thanks  of  this  gathering.  For  this  purpose,  as  poor  old  Sam 
Glen  of  the  Herald  used  to  say,  let  us  '  gather.' 

**  If  their  son  had  not  been  born,  or  had  turned  out  to  be 
a  daughter,  there  would  be  no  city  of  magnificent  distances ; 
no  monument  to  mark  the  tardiness  of  niggardly  recognition 
of  greatness  under  a  Republican  form  of  government ;  no 
Boss  Shepard,  by  whom  virulent  partisan  journals  could 
'point  a  moral  and  adorn  a  tale'  of  injustice  and  inapprecia- 
tion.  If  Washington  had  not  been  born,  there  would  have 
been  no  Capitol  bearing  his  name  to  enframe  the  Honorable 
Peleg  Slobber,  our  distinguished  member  of  Congress  ;  and 
form  a  background  to  display  the  shining  virtues  of  Senator 
Vorean.  Gentlemen  !  fill  your  glasses  to  the  first  regular 
toast :  The  day  we  celebrate,  which  gave  us  a  Washington, 
to  fill  the  world  with  the  glory  of  his  patriotism,  and  estab- 
lished a  Republic  so  that  Slobber  might  drav/  his  pay  regu- 
larly as  an  M.C.,  and  Vorean  display  the  beauties  of  .Christian 
statesmanship." 

The  next  regular  toast  was  :  "  The  City  of  New  York ;  a 
refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  the  western  rcfugiuui 
pcccatoriimy 

The  Commissioner  was  called  upon  to  respond.  He  read 
from  notes,  which  were  renewed  from  time  to  time  as  they 
fill  Dew.      He  said  : 

"  I  thank  the  distinguished  presiding  officer  and  this  vast 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  1 7 

assemblage  for  the  honor  conferred  in  selecting  me  to  re- 
spond to  this  toast  when  there  are  present  so  many  better 
qualified  than  I  to  do  it  justice.  Who  can  do  justice  to  Xew^ 
York  ?  Not  the  judges  of  the  criminal  courts  and  police 
magistrates  ;  there  are  not  enough  of  them.  Nor  do  we  want 
equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  in  its  fullest  extent.  In  our 
young  country  we  must  facilitate  immigration,  we  must  fos- 
ter and  encourage  an  increase  in  the  number  of  inhabitants, 
so  as  to  develop  our  resources,  and  the  strict  administration  of 
justice  would  have  the  effect  of  depopulating  our  beautiful  city. 
We  have  a  beautiful  city,  clean,  well  paved  ;  carefully  swept, 
and  garnished  with  cJiiffotinicrcs  of  hoopless  old  ash-barrels 
2xvd.  jardinieres  filled  with  cabbage-stalks  and  potato-parings. 
Look  at  our  sweet-smelling  public  places  and  interior  parks, 
the  ventilators  of  over-charged  atmospheric  fetidness.  Let 
us  wander,  in  leafy  seclusion,  through  shady  paths,  in  the 
sylvan  coverts  of  the  Battery,  where,  with  no  discordant 
sound  of  jarring  traffic  to  disturb  our  contemplations,  we  can 
enjoy  the  beauties  of  nature,  soothed  by  the  warblings  of 
sweet  birds  filling  the  air  with  melodious  iron-filings.  Let 
us  watch  Strephon  and  Chloe  and  Hezekiah  and  Amaryllis, 
innocently  disporting  amid  the  far-reaching  groves,  in  uncon- 
scious ignorance  of  the  worldly  wickedness  that  prowls  out- 
side the  precincts  of  this  Arcadian  retreat.  The  gentle  shep- 
herds no  longer  pipe  upon  oaten  straws,  but  the  voice  of  the 
accordeon  is  heard  in  bosky  echoes  ;  likewise  doth  the  en- 
trancing strain  of  the  hand-organ  replace  the  plainings  of  the 
whispering  lute.  Then  do  musical  cranks  abound.  The 
shepherd  wears  not  as  of  yore  bunches  of  gay  ribbon  at  his 
knee,  but  there  may  be  a  deftly-embroidered  patch  on  the 
quarter-deck  of  his  corduroys.  Nor  doth  the  shepherdess 
coquettishly  shorten  her  gown  to  display  a  shapch'  leg  en- 
cased in  dainty  stockings,  quaintly  clocked  with  colors  bright; 

2 


l8  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

but  she  flasheth  the  Parisian  diamonds  of  the  Bowery,  and 
twirls  the  spinning  wheel  of  the  shin-scraping  baby-wagon. 
Now  do  nymphs  on  roller-skates  glide  gracefully  over  the 
green  sward  of  asphalt,  and  fauns  frolicsome  emerge  from 
trellised  fountains  to  gambol  with  dryads  among  the  rose- 
bushes ;  while  the  aborous  benches  in  the  pastoral  scene  are 
filled  with  shepherd  "  crooks."  See  our  breathing-places  for 
the  poor !     Look  at  breezy  St.  John's  Park  ! 

"  In  what  other  city  can  be  found  such  beneficent  public 
institutions  ?  We  have  Tammany  Hall,  the  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  the  Museum  of  Anatomy, 
the  Shepherd's  Fold,  and  the  Association  for  the  Erection  of 
a  Pedestal  for  the  Bartholdi  Statue  of  '  Liberty  Enlightening 
the  World  '  under  a  bushel  of  mortar,  contributed  after  much 
arduous  solicitation  by  the  generous  American  people,  in 
recognition  of  what  France  did  for  us  in  the  War  for  Inde- 
pendence. Bartholdi  cxegit  cere  inoiuimciitian  pereiuiiiis. 
His  design  will  outlast  the  pedestal  brass,  which,  notwith- 
standing frantic  appeals,  doesn't  seem  to  be  forthcoming. 

"  Speaking  of  brass,  I  am  reminded  of  the  Tax  Commis- 
sion, which  assesses  property  with  that  liberal  disregard  of 
relative  values  adapted  to  the  wants  of  a  free  people,  particu- 
larly that  portion  that  shirks  off"  the  tyrannical  yoke  of  taxa- 
tion. 

"  Gentlemen,  did  time  permit,  I  could  dwell  for  hours  on 
the  beauties  of  New  York.  Consider  our  devotion  to  the 
fine  arts  ;  our  statue  of  Lincoln,  our  great  picture-galleries, 
open  for  all — Harper's,  Leslie  s,  Puck's,  and  judge's.  Look  at 
our  Clubs  !  Where  will  you  find  one  so  willing  and  powerful 
as  the  New  York  policeman's  ?  But  I  cannot  enumerate  all 
these  salient  features  which  prove  that  a  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  by  the  people,  finds  its  most  perfect 
development  of  botching  the  charter  by  rural  legislators,  in 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY.  1 9 

the  great  and  good  city  of  New  York,  together  with  the 
County  of  the  same." 

The  Commissioner's  remarks  were  received  with  tremen- 
dous applause,  for  it  was  evident  he  "knows  how  it  is  him- 
self," and  can  confidently  challenge  an  answer  to  the  imper- 
tinent governmental  interrogatory,  What  are  you  going  to 
do  about  it  ? 

To  me  was  assigned  the  task  of  responding  to  the  third 
regular  toast  :   "The  Army  and  Navy."     I  said  : 

"  Fellow-voyagers  !  It  is  with  unfeigned  reluctance  that 
I  approach  the  consideration  of  this  theme,  of  such  over- 
whelming magnitude  that  I  doubt  my  ability  to  do  it  justice. 
Whether  we  view  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  in  its  en- 
tirety, through  a  small  field-glass,  or  in  detachments,  pursu- 
ing industrious  deserters,  it  is,  like  General  Jackson  in  the 
song,  '  an  honor  to  the  country  and  a  terror  to  the  foe,* 
There  have  been  larger  armies,  but  none  that  have  received 
more  attention  in  Congressional  debates,  and  been  made  the 
recipients  of  more  profuse  renewals  of  the  assurances  of  dis- 
tinguished inconsideration.  When  I  think  of  the  imposing 
proportions  of  that  grand  army,  my  soul  swells  with  pride. 
Even  now,  with  comparatively  little  turbulence,  there  arc  in 
some  places  as  many  as  three  privates  and  a  corporal  to  a 
hundred  miles,  massed  along  the  frontier  to  protect  it  from 
the  depredations  of  Indians  on  the  sutlers'  stores.  For  what 
is  the  army  without  the  sutler?  it  is  principal!}- sutler.  In 
the  soldier,  we  have  a  sutler  friend  ;  and,  than  the  Indian, 
where  can  be  found  a  subtler  foe  ? 

"It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  say  that  our  magnificent 
Navy  commands  the  adnfiration  of  the  world  :  and  that  por- 
tion of  New  Jersey  situated  on  Chesequakes  Creek,  where  it 
might  all  ride  with  ease  and  safety  were  it  not  for  the  licrgcn 
Point  mosquitoes,  against  which  iron-clads  afford  no  adequate 


20  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

protection.  The  voyages  of  that  briny  old  sea-dog,  Secretary 
Chandler,  from  Newport  to  Martha's  Vineyard,  fill  volumi- 
nous annual  departmental  reports  with  matter  far  more  inter- 
esting to  the  naval  contractor  than  recitals  of  the  heroic  deeds 
of  La  Perouse,  Van  Tromp,  Drake,  Nelson,  and  Paul  Jones. 
What  would  our  navy  be  without  the  contractor  ?  It  is  prin- 
cipally contractor.  It  affords  an  example  of  economical  and 
effective  expenditure,  prudently  placed  "  where  it  will  do  the 
most  good,"  before  election,  not  paralleled  by  any  of  the 
great  maritime  powers,  from  Saxony  to  Bohemia.  They  may 
pilfer  us  on  other  appropriations,  but  they  cannot  Robeson 
our  Navy." 

Here  the  Commodore  interrupted  and  said  severely  that 
politics  was  interdicted  on  the  yacht,  that  we  were  off  for 
pleasure,  like  the  man  going  to  Europe  without  his  family, 
and  did  not  want  the  American  bane  of  partisan  discussion 
introduced.  I  made  a  suggestion  about  using  the  bane  to 
get  rid  of  the  Roach  in  our  war-vessels,  but  the  Commodore 
indignantly  shouted  silence  !  so  I  silenced.  The  rest  of  that 
speech — in  which  I  intended  to  sail  in  on  frugal  appropria- 
tions of  the  River  and  Harbor  Bill  for  dredging  Cohoes  Falls, 
and  placing  the  rivers  of  John  Brown's  tract,  and  the  West 
Canada  Creek  harbors  in  proper  defensive  condition — was 
drowned  in  the  Commodore's  rebuke,  and  is  lost  forever  to 
an  admiring  reading  public. 

The  last  regular  toast  was  "  Woman."  Uncle  John  was 
chosen  to  respond  to  this,  as  no  one  else  present  was  so  well 
qualified,  from  long  years  of  familiarity  with  the  topic.  It 
required  some  effort  to  induce  him  to  undertake  the  response, 
for,  he  said,  a  woman  requires  nobody  to  speak  for  her  ;  she 
is  able  and  willing  to  do  it  for  herself.  Then,  the  speeches 
thus  far  were  in  a  mocking  vein,  and  he  could  not  treat  this 
subject  facetiously.     It  was  customary  at  public  dinners  to 


WASHINGTON  S   BIRTHDAY.  J  I 

say  witty  things  and  crack  jokes  about  the  ladies,  but  he 
couldn't  bring  himself  to  speak  lightly  of  them.  lie  was  an 
old  fogy,  with  obsolete  ideas,  who  retained  that  respect  for 
women  which  seems  to  be  lost  in  the  sneering  coarseness  of 
this  epoch  of  emasculated  dudery. 

Upon  our  assurance  that  jocularity  would  not  be  expected, 
that  he  might  be  as  sedate  as  he  pleased,  and  wouldn't  be 
considered  out  of  place  were  he  as  solemn  as  a  deaf  man  at 
the  Opera,  he  consented  to  speak,  and  responded  with  elo- 
quent feeling,  showing  plainly  that  under  the  snow-laden 
foliage  of  his  frosty  pow  lay  verdant  tenderness  and  manly 
devotion  to  woman.  After  some  hesitation,  Uncle  John 
commenced  : 

'•  Ladies  and  gentlemen "  (When  reminded  that  there 

were  no  ladies  present,  he  said,  "There  are  always  ladies 
present  in  our  hearts,  and  I  am  going  to  speak  from  my 
heart  !  " — a  gallant  remark  of  the  gay  old  squire  of  dames  that 
evoked  loud  applause,  as  we  all  felt  the  sweet  presence  when 
he  spoke.) 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  I  feel  that  I  am  not  qualified  to  do  jus- 
tice to  this  subject.  I  approach  it  with  some  trepidation,  for 
I  am  a  married  man,  and  one  is  apt  to  be  placed  in  a  false 
position  by  these  discussions.  If  he  is  calm,  critical,  just, 
and  unimpassioned,  he  renders  himself  liable  to  the  imi)uta- 
tion  of  evincing  the  cold  cynicism  of  disillusioning  experience, 
of  manifesting  the  proverbial  contempt  bred  of  familiarity  ; 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  exuberant  and  unstinted  in  his 
admiration,  he  incurs  the  suspicion  of  extolling  a  cynosure, 
of  pretending  to  generalize  while  having  in  view  some  partic- 
ular object  of  enthusiasm,  in  whose  regard  he  feeds  the  fiick- 
ering  light  that  burns  before  the  shrine  of  beauty.  Then 
there's  a  row  in  the  family.  In  this  remark  I  desire  to  have 
it  understood  that   I   am  strictly  impersonal.     Those    who 


22  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

know  me  need  no  assurance  that  I  am  incapable  of  giving  the 
shghtest  cause  for  matrimonial  infelicity.  Indeed  I  might 
claim  to  be  worthy  of  being  regarded  as  Caesars  wife's 
brother. 

"  But  I  am  going  to  be  serious  in  these  remarks.  Levity 
grates  harshly  when  women  are  in  question.  It  is  the  bad 
habit  to  be  facetious  in  the  post-prandial  treatment  of  a  toast 
which  deserves  the  first  place,  but,  for  some  traditional  rea- 
son, is  offered  last,  and  comes  in  when  the  audience  is  tired 
and  requires  jocoseness  to  stimulate  flagging  interest.  I  shall 
be  serious,  and,  instead  of  trying  to  be  funny  and  flippant, 
I  shall  express  my  hearty,  honest,  earnest  appreciation  of 
the  admirable  attributes  of  woman,  which  exalt  her  so  far 
above  the  coarser  nature  of  man. 

"  In  his  rebuke  of  the  exceptional  haughtiness  of  a  proud 
beauty,  Tennyson  says  : 

*  Howe'er  it  be  it  seems  to  me, 
'Tis  only  noble  to  be  good. 
Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets, 
And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood.' 

"  History  abounds  with  instances  of  invincible  heroism,  of 
fortitude  and  endurance  of  misfortune  by  women,  fit  to  rank 
with  the  achievements  of  mighty  conquerors.  Woman  is 
noble  because  she  is  good  ;  her  simple  faith,  which  clings 
unalterably  even  to  unworthy  objects,  makes  her  superior  to 
man,  who  is  often  to  her  a  tyrant  and  a  deceiver.  Women  are 
true  and  loyal  ;  they  are  never  traitors.  The  speaker  who 
preceded  me  treated  the  army  in  a  ridiculous  sort  of  a  Avay, 
but  I  may  be  permitted,  with  grave  earnestness,  to  draw  an 
illustration  of  woman's  fidelity  from  the  late  war  for  our 
Union.  The  women  of  the  North  were  uncompromising  ad- 
herents  to    the  Union,  there  were  no  secessionists   among 


WASHINGTON'S   UIRTIIDAY.  23 

them  ;  the  women  of  tlie  South  beheld  unappallcd  the  horrors 
of  war,  and  were  wilhng,  patient,  and  uncomplaining  sharers 
in  the  sufferings  and  privations  that  attended  adhesion  to  the 
Lost  Cause.  In  the  North,  women  were  faithful  to  the  right; 
in  the  South,  loyally  devoted  to  politically  disloyal  fathers, 
brothers,  husbands,  and  sons,  they  were  faithful  to  the  wrong. 
They  clung  to  their  respective  standards  with  unswerving 
tenacity  ;  until  one  floated  in  triumph,  and  the  other,  tattered 
and  torn,  trailing  in  the  dust  of  defeat,  was  picked  up  and 
clasped  to  the  constant  heart  of  the  ever  faithful  Southern 
woman. 

"There  were  many  on  both  sides  worthy  to  rank  with 
Joan  of  Arc,  though  they  did  not  don  cuirass  and  helmet  and 
lead  mailed  warriors  in  the  fray.  It  required  an  effort  of 
heroism  to  part  with  beloved  ones  who  took  up  arms  to  en- 
gage in  bloody  conflict  and  run  the  hazard  of  cruel  war. 
Where  in  all  language  is  there  such  a  compendium  of  the 
better  emotions  of  our  nature  as  the  word  Mother.  She  was 
of  heroic  mould  who  said,  '  It  is  hard  to  part  with  my  fust- 
born  ;  but  go,  my  son  !  do  your  duty  to  our  country,  and  ma}' 
a  mother's  blessing  attend  you  wherever  you  may  go  !  '  As 
the  sentinel  paced  his  weary  round,  while  the  night  wind  dis- 
tilled the  odors  of  Virginian  forests  ;  and  the  air  was  vocal 
with  myriads  of  insects  hymning  lauds  to  the  Creator  ;  and 
the  stars  shone  down  serenely  radiant — that  mother's  blessing 
was  around  and  about  him  ;  more  fragrant  than  the  i)crrunie 
of  the  trees  ;  the  words,  echoing  in  the  ear  of  mcmor)',  more 
tuneful  than  the  subdued  harmonics  of  the  night  ;  and  the 
recollection  of  tears  that  sparkled  in  loving  eyes  while  pvo- 
nouncing  the  parting  benediction,  pure  as  the  holy  light  from 
heavenly  dome  above. 

"  But  it  is  not  in  the  heroic  \-iew  that  woman  appears  in 
the  most  admirable  li<iht.      It  is  in  the  sacred  retreat  of  do- 


24  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

mestic  life  that  she  shines.  She  is  like  the  glow-worm  that 
emits  its  radiance  in  the  shade,  remote  from  public  view,  but 
pales  in  the  garish  light  of  selfish  worldliness.  Here  we  find 
the  tender  mother,  the  loving  wife,  the  dutiful  daughter,  the 
patient,  untiring  nurse.  How  often  does  woman's  heart  bear 
up  bravely  against  miseries  under  which  man's  would  sink  ; 
how  many  temptations  are  resisted  before  which  man's  would 
yield  ! 

*  Oh  woman,  in  our  hours  of  ease. 

Uncertain,  coy  and  hard  to  please. 
And  variable  as  the  shade 

By  the  light  quivering  aspen  made, 
When  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow, 

A  ministering  angel  thou  !  ' 

"The  name  of  Florence  Nightingale  has  become  famous 
in  every  civilized  land  ;  it  is  a  synonym  of  merciful  self-abne- 
gation. There  is  a  multitude  of  unrenowned  Florence  Night- 
ingales in  every  war ;  and  they  walk  among  us,  through 
peaceful  paths,  every  day,  unnoticed  and  unknown.  The 
Geneva  Cross  is  the  labarum  of  the  grand  army  of  benev- 
olence. The  volunteer  hospital  nurse  is  held  in  grateful  re- 
membrance by  those  who  experienced  the  solace  of  her  be- 
nign presence.  We  cannot  pay  too  much  reverence  to  the 
holy  sisterhood  whose  lives  are  dedicated,  in  the  name  of  re- 
ligion, to  the  cause  of  suffering  humanity  ;  who  relinquish 
the  pleasures  of  the  world,  and  abandon  their  own  proper 
names,  to  merge  themselves  in  the  unidentified  designation 
of  '  Sister,'  for  the  purpose  of  ministering  to  the  poor  and 
afflicted.  The  maimed  or  fever-stricken  occupant  of  the  bed 
which  charity  provides,  tossing  in  pain,  sees  approach  a  form 
clad  in  sombre  raiment,  and  soon  the  gentle  offices  of  her  vo- 
cation alleviate  his  sufferings,  and  the  cool  touch  of  pious  fin- 


WASHINGTON  S   BIRTHDAY.  25 

gers  on  his  burning  brow  seems  to  soothe  with  heahng  influ- 
ence. And  if  it  happens  that  all  these  efforts  are  ineftcctual 
to  prolong  the  payment  of  the  last  debt,  there  bends  over  the 
stricken  couch  a  saintly  figure,  and  the  glazing  e}es  of  the 
dying  man  reflect  an  angelic  presence,  impressed  upon  them 
when  they  re-open  in  the  brightness  of  the  world  beyond. 
The  unsymmetrical  folds  of  that  shapeless  black  gown  are 
the  chrysalis  husk,  which  some  day  will  burst  into  glory,  re- 
vealing beneath  the  enfolded  seraph  wings,  that  will  spread 
to  bear  aloft  a  triumphant  soul,  buoyed  with  sustaining  good 
deeds  done  on  earth. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  out  on  the  wide  sea,  surrounded  by 
voracious  waters,  at  the  mercy  of  spiteful  winds,  far  from 
home,  family,  friends  and  companions,  we  think  more  seri- 
ously than  we  are  apt  to  do  amid  the  distracting  pleasures 
and  turmoil  of  shore  occupation.  I  have  treated  this  toast 
with  a  gravity  not  suited  perhaps  to  the  joyous  abandon  of  a 
feast,  but  in  a  manner  congenial  to  my  own  feelings.  I  re- 
spect and  honor  womankind.  I  offer  as  a  sentiment :  The 
Sister  of  Charity  and  the  volunteer  hospital  nurse — imper- 
sonations of  self-sacrificing  womanly  compassion  ;  their  uni- 
forms are  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  the  innate  nobility 
of  the  true  woman." 

That  Uncle  John  had  struck  a  vibrating  chord  was  mani- 
fest in  the  sympathetic  silence  that  followed  his  remarks. 
We  retired  from  the  table,  touched  and  softened.  There  were 
no  more  toasts,  for  we  were  but  four  voyagers,  and  each  luul 
performed  his  allotted  duty.  Before  the  conclusion  of  the 
last  speech  there  were  luimistakable  signs  of  a  storm  brewing, 
which  would  soon  burst  upon  us,  an  ironical  comment  on 
the  Commodore's  complacent  felicitations  of  assured  continu- 
ance of  fine  weather.  I  had  my  joke  at  his  expense,  j-ou  may 
be  sure.     I  don't  often  miss  a  chance.      A  threatening  growl 


26  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

was  heard  coming  over  the  sea,  as  if  a  Hon  were  giving  notice 
that  he  was  about  to  come  out  of  his  den  ;  there  was  an  un- 
steadiness among  the  glasses  on  the  board,  which  we  knew 
were  not  deceptive  waverings  that  came  from  looking  at  the 
bottles,  for  we  are  not  prone  to  over-indulgence  ;  we  could 
hear  the  sailors  on  deck  taking  in  sail,  and  there  was  every 
indication  of  a  nasty  night.  We  turned  into  our  berths,  si- 
lently and  soberly,  still  feeling  the  influence  of  Uncle  John's 
soul-felt  tribute  to  Woman. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  STORM. 

No  Poppy-juice — ]\Icteorology — Laying  to  — A  Disturbance — Queer  Fan- 
cies— Optical  Delusion  — Life  Insurance — My  Own  Funeral — The 
Flute— Mont  Cenis — Old  Theatres— The  Banshee — A  Daughter's 
Devotion  —  Corked-up —  Seasickness  —  Depression  —  The  Convent 
Bell. 

Hamilton,  Bermuda,  February  29.  1S84. 
The  soothing  influence  that  attended  us  when  \vc  turned  in 
was  "  not  poppy  nor  mandragora  "  that  could  medicine  us  to 
that  sweet  sleep  inferentially  promised  by  the  Commodore  in 
his  rose-colored  anticipations  of  smooth  sailing.  We  were 
soon  in  a  state  of  topsy-turvitude  that  murdered  sleep.  Our 
heads  had  hardly  softly  sought  the  pillow  when  the  gale,  that 
had  been  menacing  for  some  time,  struck  us  with  great  fury. 
The  skirmishers  had  been  sent  out  before,  and  wc  felt  the 
scattering  fire  while  yet  at  table,  but  now  the  attack  was 
made  in  force.  We  had  a  doleful  experience  following  the 
feast  of  the  nativity  of  Washington,  notwithstanding  the 
enthusiastic  Commodore's  complacent  promises  of  lullaby 
winds  and  cradling  waves.  They  were  not  a  bit  like  the  cra- 
dle, but  had  more  promise  of  the  gra\e.  We  sat  down  to 
dine  Friday  evening  at  six,  and  didn't  go  on  deck  again  for 
any  considerable  length  of  time,  until  Sunday  morning  at  ten 
o'clock. 

During  that  time  we  were  close  prisoners,  guarded  b\'  im- 
placable winds  and  rough  waves  with   unremitting  vigilance. 


28  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

We  performed  an  enforced  forty  hours'  devotion,  in  retreat ; 
Qiiaraiite  oro,  quarantined  by  old  Neptune.  I  venture  to 
suggest,  without  much  fear  of  contradiction  from  my  fellow- 
prisoners,  that,  mildly  speaking,  it  was  not  comfortable. 

I  am  going  to  set  up  as  a  meteorologist.  I  have  estab- 
lished quite  a  reputation  for  weather  wisdom.  But  why 
shouldn't  I  ?  Who  ought  to  know  about  weather  so  well 
as  the  Utican  ?  Where  is  there  more  weather  to  be  found  ? 
Besides  no  true  Utican  will  permit  his  native  place  to  be 
excelled  in  any  respect,  and  it  must  now  take  high  rank 
as  the  home  of  the  weather-wise,  as  well  as  the  harbor  of  poli- 
ticians from  other  haunts  of  the  world  who  settle  there  to  be- 
come Governors,  United  States  Senators  and  Members  of 
Congress.  Friday  afternoon,  as  I  emerged  from  the  compan- 
ion-way, I  saw  a  thin  streak  of  ragged  cloud  in  the  south- 
eastern sky,  which  looked  like  a  fragment,  with  a  frayed  edge, 
torn  off  from  a  larger  piece.  I  remarked  that  I  thought  it  in- 
dicated a  storm,  but  my  landsman  opinion  evidently  met 
with  no  consideration,  as  the  sky  was  clear  in  every  quarter, 
although  there  were  some  small  blurs  of  fleeciness  discernible 
near  the  western  horizon.  My  prognostic  not  being  received 
with  the  favor  with  which  an  opinion  on  any  subject  coming 
from  the  home  of  statesmen  and  sages  is  entitled,  I  belayed 
my  tongue  and  shut  my  prophetic  mouth,  simply  suggesting, 
apologetically,  that  I  was  born  on  the  shores  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  and  ought  to  know  something  about  the  sea.  Shortly 
afterward,  I  ventured  to  remark  to  the  sailing-master,  with 
becoming  diffidence,  that  he  would  have  to  double  reef  the 
mainsail  again  to-night.  He  thought  not,  but  said,  with  a 
sailor's  characteristic  caution,  that  he  could  not  tell.  Soon 
the  clouds  began  to  gather  threateningly  in  the  western  sky, 
which  assumed  a  vaporous  appearance,  with  the  water  eleva- 
tors, showing  their  divergent  ladders,  strongly  marked  ;  and 


THE   STORM.  29 

the  sun  went  down  behind  a  bank  of  coppery  clouds,  with 
hirid,  menacing  glare.  There  were  no  positive  indications  of 
close  proximity  to  a  storm  even  then  ;  indeed,  when  \vc  sat 
down  to  our  frugal  Washington's  Birthday  repast,  the  wind 
lulled,  and  we  ate  our  dinner  in  happy  unconsciousness  of 
the  imminent  hurricane. 

It  blew  hard  the  night  before,  but  then  it  was  clear  and 
starlight,  while  now  the  sky  was  overcast  with  sullen,  lower- 
ing clouds  ;  the  barometer  fell  with  alarming  rapidity  ;  the 
sea  looked  angry  and  rose  with  threatening  surge,  and  it  was 
evident,  to  say  the  least,  that  a  hard  blow  was  coming  on. 
At  midnight  it  blew  a  gale,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to 
"  lay  to."  This  laying  to  is  resorted  to  when  it  is  found  that 
the  vessel  is  unable  to  carry  sail  on  account  of  the  dangerous 
wind  and  high-running  waves.  It  is  done  by  furling  the  sails, 
except  some  small  bit  of  canvas,  to  give  steerage-way,  and 
pointing  the  vessel  directly  in  the  teeth  of  the  wind.  Thus 
the  only  resistance  offered  is  by  the  hull,  masts,  and  rigging, 
and  the  wind  has  but  comparatively  little  to  take  hold  of,  the 
craft  remaining  stationary,  except  that  she  may  drift  stern- 
ward  in  a  current  made  by  the  gale.  A  low  vessel  has  an 
advantage,  in  not  presenting  so  much  surface  for  the  assaults 
of  the  wind. 

I  can  illustrate  this  process  of  laying  to  by  an  umbrella. 
Suppose  you  are  out  in  a  strong  wind,  with  an  umbrella 
raised.  If  it  is  so  violent  that  you  cannot  hold  it  safeh',  you 
close  the  umbrella,  which  is  furling  sails.  If  you  point  the 
ferrule  straight  at  the  wind,  your  umbrella  is  "  laying  to." 

I  have  experienced  some  heavy  storms  at  sea,  in  the  north 
and  south  Atlantic,  the  Mediterranean,  the  English  Channel, 
and  elsewhere,  and  have  been  in  squalls  on  Lake  Ontario 
that  were  not  to  be  sneezed  at,  but  this  excelled  anything 
that  I  had  ever  met  before.     Theretofore  I  had  been  on  lar^e 


30  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

steamers  of  two  or  three  thousand  tons  burden,  with  decks 
towering  above  the  sea,  beyond  the  reach  of  waves  unless 
they  ran  extraordinarily  high  ;  but  here  we  were  on  a  little 
yacht  one  hundred  feet  long  and  twenty-five  in  breadth  at  the 
widest  point,  with  a  deck  exactly  four  feet  above  the  water- 
line.  When  you  think  that  the  waves  were  running  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  high,  and  that  the  wind  was  blowing  a  fierce  gale, 
you  may  imagine  that  the  deck  of  the  Montauk  was  not  a 
pleasant  place  to  be.  I  wasn't  there,  however.  I  was  below 
in  the  saloon  with  the  other  voyagers.  We  had  no  particular 
inclination  to  be  on  deck,  and  if  we  had,  its  gratification 
would  have  been  attended  with  much  difficulty.  It  was  a 
wonder  how  the  sailors  could  maintain  their  footing  even 
to  do  what  little  they  had  to  do  with  all  the  sails  furled. 

I  have  not  the  power  to  describe  that  storm.  If  you  can 
imagine  in  the  howling  wind  a  continuous  roar  such  as  one 
hears  at  Niagara  Falls,  with  a  beating  on  the  masts  and  rig- 
ging sounding  like  a  train  of  railroad  cars  in  motion,  inter- 
spersed with  frequent  booms  like  the  discharge  of  cannon 
when  huge  waves  struck  forward,  and  rushed  in  tumultuous 
torrents,  seething,  lashing,  foaming,  the  spiteful  floods  seem- 
ing as  if  seeking  to  tear  something  venomously,  you  might 
form  an  idea  of  the  babel  of  unpleasant  sounds  which  filled 
our  ears  as  we  lay  below  in  the  saloon,  with  the  skylight  cov- 
ered with  boards  under  layers  of  strong  canvas  screwed  to  the 
deck,  the  hatches  battened  down,  and  everything  sealed 
tight  to  keep  out  the  water.  If  I  may  use  the  simile,  we  made 
a  sort  of  water  sandwich.  Underneath,  with  a  few  planks  be- 
tween us  and  the  mighty  ocean,  the  angry  waves,  lashed  into 
fury,  struck  at  our  vessel  with  untiring  persistency  ;  over- 
head, the  deck  was  covered  with  streams  of  water  from  the 
seas,  shattered  into  spray  that  broke  constantly  over  the  bul- 
warks, causing  her  to  tremble  in  every  joint  ;  the  flood  surg- 


THE   STORM.  31 

ing,  advancing  and  receding,  forward  and  aft,  shifting  from  side 
to  side  until  it  found  an  outlet  through  the  scupjicrs.  Then 
the  fearful  din  outside  was  re-echoed  within  by  the  crcakings 
and  groanings  of  the  joiner-work,  filling  the  saloon  with  all 
kinds  of  queer  noises,  whistles  and  sighs  and  moans,  some- 
times sharp  and  petulant,  at  others  taking  the  tone  of  hushed, 
whispering  voices.  One  might  imagine  that  they  were  wails 
and  lamentations  for  a  coming  disaster ;  the  keening  of  the 
Banshee  commingling  with  the  screechings  of  malignant 
water-demons. 

Strange  fancies  came  to  us,  while  we  lay,  tossed  by  the 
vexed  seas,  in  the  closed  saloon,  the  turned-down  wick  of  the 
ceiling-lamp  lighting  with  shadeful  indistinctness,  casting 
around  vague  shadows  of  weird,  shuddering  aspect.  It  is 
impossible  to  sleep  soundly  grasping  the  lee-board  to  keep 
in  the  berth,  but  one  occasionally  drops  off  in  an  uneasy  doze, 
when  phantasmagorial  troops  come  riding  through  the  brain, 
in  quick  succession,  like  the  figures  on  the  revolving  toy 
held  before  a  mirror,  minerlinfj  in  heterogeneous  contact. 

Nearly  everybody  is  familiar  with  optical  delusions  created 
by  objects  seen  in  an  imperfect  light,  i:)articularly  at  night  ; 
how  garments,  hung  over  the  backs  of  chairs,  become  figures 
apparently  substantial  ;  how  flickering  gleams  on  the  wall 
take  varied  conformations,  graceful  and  beautiful,  familiar 
and  homely,  or  extravagant,  grotesque  and  bizarre.  I  ex- 
perienced one  of  these  effects  which  had  every  appearance 
of  reality.  On  account  of  the  greater  warmth  of  the  saloon, 
which  was  heated  by  a  stove,  we  occupied  the  flanking  berths 
in  it,  instead  of  sleeping  in  our  state-rooms.  My  room  is 
on  the  port  quarter  aft,  opening  from  the  companion-wa}-, 
in  the  direct  line  of  vision  from  the  forward  starboard  berth 
where  I  lay.  The  door  was  open  and  a  lantern,  swing- 
ing outside,  dimly  revealed  the  interior.     Awaking  from  a 


32  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

troubled  drowse,  the  first  thing  that  met  my  eye  was  this 
room,  in  which  I  saw,  distinctly  and  clearly-defined,  the  fig- 
ure of  a  nun  kneeling  in  prayer,  with  folded  hands,  and 
veiled  head  bent  forward  in  attitude  of  supplication.  I  was 
startled ;  just  coming  out  of  a  doze,  with  confused  faculties, 
obscured  by  the  clinging  mists  of  sleep  partially  dispelled.  I 
looked  intently  :  there  was  the  figure  plain  and  palpable.  I 
knew  there  was  no  person  in  the  room,  and  that  it  was  not, 
therefore,  a  real  presence  with  changed  appearance  caused 
by  the  cloudy  light  ;  nor  was  it  a  phantasm,  for  my  nerves 
were  not  shaken  in  the  least  by  the  somewhat  appalling  situ- 
ation, and  I  was  as  calm  and  self-possessed,  though  appre- 
ciating the  danger,  as  if  I  were  in  my  bed  on  land.  I  lay 
there  some  time,  watching  the  shape,  endeavoring  to  make 
it  change  to  the  view,  but  in  vain.  I  would  shut  my  eyes 
and  re-open  them  quickly,  but  beheld  again  the  suppliant 
nun  in  precisely  the  same  position. 

At  length  I  quit  my  berth  and  crawled  over  to  the  room 
to  learn  what  material  composed  such  a  remarkably  distinct 
deceptive  impersonation  to  the  fancy.  The  inside  of  the 
room  is  painted  white,  the  bedding  is  of  the  same  color,  and 
the  apparition  was  created  in  this  way  :  I  had  thrown  a  long 
overcoat  carelessly  on  the  high  berth,  so  that  it  hung  down 
in  front  of  the  drapery,  and,  in  the  relief  of  staring  white  back- 
ground, it  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  kneeling  figure,  when 
seen  across  the  saloon.  I  did  not  disturb  it,  but  returned  to 
see  if  it  would  appear  the  same  when  revealed  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  what  caused  the  similacrMU.  Re-entering  my  berth, 
I  looked  again,  and  there  it  was,  without  the  slightest  change. 
It  was  such  a  remarkable  verisimilitude  that  it  possessed  a 
sort  of  fascination,  and  I  spent  a  long  time  looking  at  the 
shape,"  straining  my  eyes  and  shifting  my  position  in  the  en- 
deavor to  make  it  conform  to  what  I  knew  it  to  be — an  over- 


THE   STORM.  33 

coat  spread  on  a  white  coverlet.  Had  I  been  prone  to  accept 
supernatural  appearances,  I  might  have  believed  when  I  first 
saw  the  figure  that  it  was  some  benignant  guardian  shape 
sent  to  protect  me  in  the  surrounding  perils  ;  or  the  water- 
wraith  warning  of  disaster.  Many  well- authenticated  "  ap- 
pearances "  have  no  more  foundation  than  this  figment  of  the 
imagination.  And  yet  who  knows  but  that,  far  away,  some 
nun  may  have  been  praying  in  her  dreams,  and  the  asjiira- 
tions  took  form  and  shape  in  my  room  ?      Who  knows  ? 

I  suppose  if  one  were  lost  at  sea  the  life  insurance  com- 
panies would  offer  no  objection  to  paying  the  risk,  if  the 
requisite  permit  had  been  obtained  to  sail,  which  involved 
the  consent  of  the  Company  to  go  down.  The}'  are  nc\-(jr 
exacting  in  these  matters.  After  one  has  paid  premiums  for 
many  )'ears  they  never  set  up  a  quibbling  defence  to  cashing 
the  prize  drawn  by  a  lucky  number.  The  proof  of  loss  is  the 
rub.  If  we  all  go  down  in  this  gale,  how  would  the  loss  be 
proved  ?  We  couldn't  very  well  swear  for  each  other,  as  I 
fancy  the  Governor  hasn't  appointed  any  notaries-public  for 
Davy  Jones'  locker.  There  is  no  Senator  from  that  district 
to  procure  the  appointment. 

A  queer  idea  strikes  me,  as  a  piece  of  possible  bad 
luck.  I  have  made  posthumous  provision  for  a  moderate 
collation  to  veteran  soldiers  and  friends  upon  their  return 
from  my  funeral,  by  and  by,  and  it  occurs  to  me  that  if  I  am 
lost  at  sea  the  entertainment  could  not  come  off  as  ad\-erlised  ; 
which  would  be  hard  on  the  boys.  Then,  too,  I  ha\e  been 
noted  for  my  faithful  attendance  at  funerals,  and  it^  would  be 
a  cruel  stroke  of  unkind  fortune  if.  after  having  been  present 
at  so  many  obsequies  of  others,  I  should  be  denied  the  pri\i- 
lege  of  attending  my  own  funeral. 

That  little  sound,  like  the  note  of  a  fiute,  coming  timidly 
out  of  the  mast-case,  reminds  me  of  Miller,  from  whom  I 
3 


34  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

took  music-lessons.  He  was  a  shaky  old  chap,  who  had 
been  a  musician  in  the  British  Army,  and  played  liquid  notes 
with  true  vinous  quaver.  I  remember  the  first  tune  I 
essayed — after  disastrous  contention  with  scales  and  exer- 
cises, where  they  had  the  worst  of  it — "  My  love  is  but  a 
lassie  yet."  I  was  faithful  to  that  lassie.  I  failed  to  win  her, 
but  I  never  courted  another  tune.  How  these  long-forgotten 
trifles  come  back  when  we  lie  awake  all  night  !  The  mind 
seems  to  leap  backward  and  forward,  annihilating  both  time' 
and  space  without  the  slightest  regard  for  the  unities. 

I  was  nearly  thrown  out  of  my  berth  by  a  sudden  lurch 
while  half  asleep.  The  covering  had  fallen  off,  and,  as  the 
fire  was  out,  I  felt  cold.  I  imagined  I  was  again  undergoing 
my  coldest  experience — crossing  Mont  Cenis  in  the  coiipc 
of  a  diligence  at  night.  I  dreamt  that  the  lurch  of  the  ship 
was  the  diligence-wheel  striking  a  stone  in  the  rocky  pass.  I 
pulled  up  the  clothing  and  was  warm  again.  What  a  wonder- 
ful thing  is  a  dream  !  The  events  of  days  flash  through  the 
brain  in  an  instant.  Actual  occurrences  move  slowly,  like 
sound,  the  dream  must  travel  as  quickly  as  light. 

The  Park  Theatre  was  burned  down  finally  about  the  time 
roaring  Jack  Scott  played  at  the  Bowery,  and  made  nearly  as 
much  noise  as  Forrest  when  he  made  Rome  howl.  I  don't 
remember  the  old  Park,  but  I  can  recall  Burton,  in  Palmo's 
Opera  House,  on  Chambers  Street,  with  Harry  Placide  in 
the  "  Old  Guard,"  and  John  Brougham  playing  Captain 
Murphy  Maguire  in  the  "  Serious  Family."  Mary  Taylor 
was  the  great  favorite  in  Mitchell's  Olympic  ;  snug  little  box, 
home  of  farce,  vaudeville,  and  operetta,  with  George  Holland, 
that  "  rascal  Jack"  Dunn,  Walcot,  the  Mestayers,  and  Isher- 
woods.  I  don't  know  what  makes  me  think  of  theatres  now  ; 
I  ought  to  have  churches  in  my  mind.  But  man  is  perverse. 
Perhaps  this  is  my  last  act  and  I  am  about  to  make  an  exit, 


THE   STORM.  35 

in  a  grand  tableau  without  any  audience.  Well,  I  will  get 
the  best  of  the  life  insurance  companies,  if  I  do.  I  have  been 
trying  it,  at  great  pecuniary  loss,  for  years,  but  I  may  have 
the  bulge  on  them  in  this  swelling  sea. 

I  wonder  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  Banshee  attached 
to  old  Irish  families.  It  is  a  belief  very  generally  accepted  in 
Ireland.  The  Banshee  is  a  spirit  who  assumes  the  shape  of 
a  woman,  and  her  duty  is  to  warn  the  family  of  which  she  is  a 
retainer,  of  approaching  misfortune.  The  music  of  the  song  of 
the  Banshee  is  given  in  Mrs.  Hall's  sketches  of  Ireland  ;  a  cor- 
rect notation  of  the  v/ail,  which  forms  the  theme  for  the  keen 
or  death-cry  furnished  by  old  women  at  funerals.  Somebody 
must  have  heard  the  lament  who  understood  music  and  put 
down  the  notes.  I  have  heard  it  several  times  to-night.  Ac- 
cording to  the  old  bardic  verse  : 

The  Banshee  mournful  wails 

In  the  midst  of  the  silent,  lonely  night. 

Plaintive  she  sings  the  song  of  death. 

The  Banshee  may  be  seen  as  well  as  heard,  but  only  by 
the  person  on  whom  she  specially  waits.  She  always  appears 
in  a  white  robe,  or  I  might  have  taken  the  apparition  in  my 
state-room  for  the  family  attendant.  That  is,  if  I  am  entitled 
to  one,  but  it  is  probable  the  spirits  don't  emigrate.  The\' 
would  be  of  no  use  in  this  country.  We  couldn't  make  Ban- 
shee aldermen.  I  have  no  desire  to  see  mine  yet  awhile,  but 
if  she  comes  I  can't  help  myself.  Let  her  come  ;  it  will  be 
all  the  same  to  Vanderbilt  and  me  a  himdred  years  hence. 

Women  exhibit  more  fortitude  than  men.  I  have  been 
thinking  of  the  wonderful  nerve  displayed  by  a  young  girl 
not  long  ago.  Her  mother  lay  unconscious,  with  the  shadow 
of  approaching   dissolution    on   her   features.       The    loving 


36  THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  MONTAUK. 

daughter  knelt  by  her  bedside  and,  as  the  life-stream  slowly 
ebbed,  to  meet  the  turn  of  flood-tide  to  eternity,  she  read  the 
form  of  prayer  for  the  dying  prescribed  by  her  church  ritual. 
She  was  her  mother's  favorite  child,  bound  to  her  by  the 
strongest  affection.  She  recited" the  prayers  for  the  depart- 
ing soul  in  tones  clear,  distinct,  and  firm  as  if  she  were  read- 
ing the  ordinary  services  of  the  day,  without  the  heart-break- 
ing accessories  which  made  her  performance  of  this  religious 
duty,  sustained  by  exalted  faith,  a  marvel  of  self-control. 
Even  when  she  came  to  the  agonizing  words.  In  maims  t?ias, 
DoDiine — "  Into  thy  hands,  O  Lord,  I  commend  my  spirit  " — 
her  voice  pronounced  the  sentence  without  faltering  inflec- 
tion, though  the  mighty  effort  required  to  maintain  her  com- 
posure was  manifest.  Kyric  elcison  !  Christe  eleison  !  Not 
until  the  physician  said,  "All  is  over  !  "  did  she  betray  her  an- 
guish, but  then  she  gave  way  to  her  overwhelming  sorrow, 
and  burst  into  a  flood  of  heart-bleeding  tears.  The  spectacle 
of  this  young  girl — with  loving  eyes  glancing  from  the  book 
of  prayer  to  her  mother's  face,  gradually  fading  into  the  ashy 
hue  of  death — restraining  the  manifestation  of  her  poignant 
grief  so  that  she  might  properly  perform  the  ofhces  prescribed 
by  her  belief,  was  a  sublime  exhibition  of  the  invincible  power 
of  religious  faith. 

We  have  little  faith  in  these  times.  Who  can  discern  the 
line  that  divides  faith  from  superstition  ?  It  would  be  well 
if  we  had  more  superstition  of  the  right  kind. 

I  can  hear  the  pumps  working  occasionally,  but  they  find 
little  water  in  the  hold.  The  Montauk  is  exceptionally 
strong-timbered ;  she  is  not  liable  to  spring  aleak.  But 
an  anticipated  terror  haunts  us.  Amid  the  trampling  and 
shouting  on  deck,  we  dread  lest  we  hear  the  cry  of  Man  over- 
board !  That  is  our  only  fear.  We  lie  here  below,  battened 
down,  corked  up  as  if  in  a  bottle.     We  can  float  even  if  the 


TIIK   STORM.  37 

Sticks  are  taken  out  of  the  yacht  by  the  hurricane.  Grant 
said  something  about  Butler  being  bottled  up,  but  he  could 
get  away  after  some  fashion.  We  can't ;  there  is  no  place  to 
go.  We  can't  go  ashore.  I  wish  we  were  in  the  Dutch  Gap 
Canal  rather  than  the  Gulf  Stream. 

What  an  awful  sight  is  the  sea,  lashed  into  fury  !  Look- 
ing out,  through  a  small  aperture  in  the  canvas  covering  the 
companion-way  hatch,  at  the  heaving  masses  of  surging  black 
water,  we  can  see  fitful  apparitions  of  crested  foam  flying  by, 
like  sheeted  ghosts  gibbering  malignly. 

This  gale  is  so  violent  that  some  of  the  crew  are  seasick. 
The  old  cook,  a  veteran  sailor,  who  prepares  the  hot  coffee 
for  the  watch — all  are  on  duty  now — has  been  compelled  to 
lie  down.  He  may  heave  too.  Seasickness  is  the  most  dis- 
tressing of  ailments.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  the  sensations 
one  experiences  floundering  in  this  slough  of  despond.  It  is 
so  overpowering  that,  after  the  first  contortionate  encounter, 
the  wretched  victim  sinks  into  a  helpless  state  of  inertness 
and  lassitude,  and  becomes  perfectly  indifferent  as  to  what 
may  happen.  The  aflliction  is  a  happy  combination  of 
nausea,  yellow  fever,  pneumonia,  epizooty,  cholera  morbus, 
chilblains,  toothache,  inflammatory  rheumatism,  ephialtes, 
malaria,  acetic  acid,  gall,  Limburger  cheese,  mining  stocks, 
and  temperance  lectures,  which  makes  the  unfortunate  possess- 
or feel  that  life  has  become  a  burden,  which  he  would  gladly 
throw  off  had  he  the  strength  to  reach  the  ship's  side.  There 
is  no  appetite,  nor  any  place  to  put  it.  Seasickness  is  sole 
tenant  in  possession,  occupying  all  the  premises.  Were  one 
able  to  eat  it,  the  food,  like  a  Fenian  orator,  couldn't  be  kept 
down.  Nor  would  it  come  up  smiling,  as  a  plucky  pugilist 
after  losing  a  round.  Au  contrairc.  A  man  seized  and 
possessed  in  fee-simple  of  all  and  singular  the  right,  title,  and 
interest  in  and  to  a  full-sized,  able-bodied  seasickness,  is  op- 


38  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

pressed  with  more  property  than  he  can  get  rid  of  on  favor- 
able terms.      He  can't  even  quitclaim. 

He  feels  as  if  he  were  plunged  in  the  crater  of  a  volcano  ; 
submerged  beneath  an  iceberg  of  ten  thousand  thousand  tons 
bergden  ;  he  is  a  frightful  example  of  gaping  vacuity  ;  he  is 
a  mixture  of  Scylla  and  Charybdis ;  he  is  Sisyphus  rolling 
marbles ;  he  is  Prometheus  bound,  with  the  eagle  preying  on 
his  vitals  and  finding  there  nothing  worth  preying  for.  He 
is  a  howling  wilderness.  The  seasick  man  has  a  great  deal 
on  his  mind  and  nothing  on  his  stomach.  He  is  an  aching 
void.  He  has  swallowed  the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky. 
He  is  in  a  state  of  total  depravity.  He  hates  his  friends,  and 
detests  young  onions,  sliced  with  cucumbers  in  vinegar.  The 
man  who  first  ate  boiled  mutton,  raw,  wnth  capers,  or  invented 
mint-sauce  for  roasted  lamb,  must  have  been  seasick.  He 
wonders  why  he  was  born  ;  and  is  in  such  a  flimsy,  dilapi- 
dated, limp,  and  demoralized  condition,  that  he  wouldn't  have 
courage  enough  to  refuse  his  name  for  a  book  on  the  war, 
sold  only  by  subscription.  As  an  alternative  misery,  he 
would  consent  to  serve  as  an  inspector  of  election,  although 
he  couldn't  hold  the  appointment,  and  would  soon  have  to 
throw  it  up.  The  man  genuinely  seasick  is  lost  to  all  sense 
of  honor,  and  would  eat  with  his  knife,  devour  underdone 
veal,  or  pour  molasses  on  codfish-balls.  He  would  peddle 
lightning-rods,  or  infallible  cures  for  catarrh,  make  love  to 
Erinnys,  and  quote  the  Sign  Post  in  politics.  It  is  an  ex- 
treme surmise,  hardly  within  the  range  of  probability,  yet 
such  is  the  dementation  of  seasickness,  that  the  miserable 
sufferer  may  become  so  far  lost  to  a  sense  of  propriety  as  to 
read  a  President's  message  aloud,  at  the  breakfast-table,  in  the 
bosom  of  his  own  family. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  captain  going  around  among  his 
passengers,  during  a  violent  storm,  and  warning  them  to  pre- 


THE   STORM.  39 

pare,  as  the  ship  would  go  down  in  an  liour.  "  Good  gra- 
cious !  "  exclaimed  one,  writhing  in  the  travail  of  seasickness, 
"  must  I  live  an  hour  longer  !  "  I  told  this  story  to  Uncle 
John,  as  a  cheerful  and  enlivening  narrative,  suited  to  our 
condition — shouting  it  in  his  ear  as  we  clung  temporarily  to 
the  sideboard — and  when  I  remarked  that,  to  the  captain's 
suggestion,  the  seasick  passenger  demurred,  the  \cteran 
yachtsman  said,  "  Of  course  ;  he  couldn't  help  himself ;  it  was 
spontaneous  ;  he  inal-dc-ine7'ed.'\  This  is  the  most  atrocious 
pun  I  ever  heard  ;  but  I  excuse  him.  Still  it  was  hardly  fair 
to  take  advantage  of  me  in  a  hurricane.  Uncle  John  would 
have  his  joke  if  a  wave  were  hovering  over  us,  like  the  rock 
suspended  over  Tantalus,  threatening  to  descend  and  crush 
in  the  deck  of  our  little  yacht,  atomical  in  this  vast  expanse 
of  water. 

I  have  imagined  all  this  seasick  business.  I  know  nothing 
by  experience.  I  am  proof;  something  above  proof,  for  I 
am  always  in  high  spirits.  I  have  never  been  seasick  under 
any  circumstances.  Once  upon  a  time  I  was  crossing  the 
English  Channel  in  one  of  the  cockle-shell  steamers  that  pi)- 
between  Calais  and  Dover,  and  there  were  but  two  pas- 
sengers unaffected  by  the  short  chopping  sea  which  is  such  a 
provocative  of  the  malady — I  and  a  bagman  from  Man- 
chester. We  sat  forward,  under  the  half-deck,  and  sniolscd, 
greatly  to  the  disgruntlcment  of  the  pewter-mug  juaidiiis. 
We  were  out  of  the  way,  to  be  sure,  l)ut  they  can  stand  an\- 
thing  better  than  tobacco,  to  which  the\-  have  an  unconcjucr 
able  aversion.  It  is  nearly  as  bad  as  a  politician's  cxplan.iti"n 
of  the  tariff  question,  which  nobody  can  stand.  I  cltui't 
hanker  after  seasick  experience,  so  as  to  be  able  to  describe 
it.  None  in  mine,  if  you  please  ;  it  isn't  nice.  It  can  be  de- 
scribed by  the  imagination.  This  is  such  a  description  ;  an 
eidolonj  like  the  figure  I  saw  in  my  state-room,  anent  which 


40  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Uncle  John  remarked  that  it  had  no  business  to  be  eidolon 
aroupd  there  frightening  people.  Nobody  is  so  deserving  of 
compassion  as  the  seasick,  yet  nobody  receives  less  sympathy. 
It  is  a  "  dem'd  moist  unpleasant  body,"  as  Mantilini  says, 
but  everybody  ridicules  the  subject.  There  is  no  remedy  for 
seasickness.  Champagne,  brandy,  and  other  stimulants  are 
held  in  high  repute,  but  there  is  no  effectual  cure.  Many 
nostrums  have  been  prepared,  but  none  of  them  prove  gen- 
uine ;  the  compounds  all  turn  out  spurious. 

The  sleighing  must  be  fine  near  Utica  now.  I  would 
rather  be  driving  my  black  mare,  Viola,  through  upper  Gene- 
see Street,  with  a  wolf-skin  robe  to  keep  us  warm,  in  the 
bright,  frosty,  exhilarating  air,  properly  charged  with  oxy- 
gen, than  groping  here,  *'  cabin'd,  cribb'd,  confin'd,  bound 
in  to  saucy  doubts  and  fears,"  in  the  unelastic  atmosphere 
of  the  saloon,  with  no  ventilation,  except  through  the  stove- 
door,  which  is  left  open  for  that  purpose. 

It  is  depressing,  do  what  we  may  to  simulate  jollity  ;  and 
we  have  a  strain  of  the  Mark  Tapley  blood  among  us.  We 
cannot,  however,  constantly  entertain  cheerful  thoughts  as 
guests,  though  we  may  strive  to  bar  out  all  others.  The 
melancholy  will  come  uninvited  and  force  their  way  in.  The 
mind  often  undergoes  some  strain,  which  leaves  it  for  a  long 
time  sensitive  to  dejecting  influences,  which  it  feels  first  in 
the  abraded  strand  of  recollection.  I  think  of  one  now.  A 
husband  was  sent  for  hurriedly  to  come  to  the  bedside  of  his 
sick  wife.  He  did  not  know  that  she  was  dangerously  ill 
until  his  arrival,  when  he  found  her  unconscious.  She  lay  in 
a  comatose  state  for  five  days,  during  which  he  eagerly  hung 
over  her  with  wistful  gaze,  yearning  for  a  moment  of  con- 
sciousness that  would  enable  her  to  hear  him  say  good-by 
before  she  started  on  the  last  journey.  But  this  boon,  so 
fervently  prayed  for,  was  not  granted.     She  was  unconscious 


THE   STORM,  41 

to  tlic  last,  and  died  without  rcco<^nizini^  licr  long-time  com- 
panion, whose  mind  during  these  weary  five  days  was 
stretched  relentlessly  on  the  rack  of  torturing  anxiety.  The 
mind  ma\'  wear  scars.  There  are  mental  afflictions  as  hard 
to  bear  as  physical  sufferings,  for  they  are  always  with  us. 
The  illness  of  the  body  may  yield  to  medicine,  but  who  can 
"minister  to  a  mind  diseased,"  and  "  pluck  from  the  memory 
a  rooted  sorrow?  " 

That  thunderous  booming  of  the  waves  recalls  Malvern 
Hill,  with  the  massed  artillery  plunging  slaughterous  missiles 
through  Magruder's  gallant  column  of  venturesome  Confeder- 
ates, who  paid  a  fearful  penalty  for  their  temerity.  The 
drumming  of  the  rigging  is  beating  the  long-roll  to  meet  a 
night  attack. 

Ikit  I  will  not  indulge  these  dismal  reflections.  Rather 
let  the  thoughts  be  joyful  and  happy.  I  can  find  in  these 
crackling  noises,  that  fill  the  saloon  with  apparent  discord- 
ance, cheerful  sounds  ;  for  everything  depends  on  the  man- 
ner in  which  wc  receive  impressions  ;  the  mould  in  which  we 
cast  them.  Therefore  will  I  be  deaf  to  Cassandra.  I  will 
hear  no  notes  of  evil,  but  these  whispers  will  be  to  me  soft 
murmurs,  flying  over  the  boisterous  waves  and  finding  a 
resting-place  in  the  ark,  sweet-voiced  messengers,  hwinging 
fond  remembrance  from  dear  ones  on  land.  I  will  hear  in 
these  whistles  the  song  of  the  oriole  on  embowered  Rutger 
Street,  the  trilling  of  the  robin  from  the  venerable  old  elms 
of  Broad  Street,  and  the  flutter  of  bright  wings,  circling 
around  the  fountain  where  birds  sip  in  Chancellor  Square. 
But  above  all  will  I  hear  the  mellow  tone  of  holy  convent 
bell,  pealing  out,  from  cloistered  retreat,  a  reverent  invitation 
to  join  in  the  prayers  constantly  ascending  for  all  that  dwell 
on  land,  or  sail  in  ships  on  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A   HARBOR   REACHED. 

Still  Below — A  Dilemma — Short  Commons — Under  Bare  Poles — Mon- 
sieur Tonson  come  again — 29.50 — The  Barometer  Watch — A  let  up 
— Gulf-weed  —  Flying-fish  —  Ash  Wednesday  —  Bermuda  Light  — 
Hamilton  Harbor. 

Hamilton,  February  29,  1884. 
We  lay  through  that  raging  night,  buffeted  about  as  if  the 
sea-king  were  kicking  and  cuffing  us  spitefully  for  venturing 
to  cross  his  domains  in  such  an  insignificant  vessel  while  he 
was  in  bad  humor.  Keeping  in  our  berths  was  a  matter  at- 
tended with  much  difficulty,  tumbling,  posturing,  and  con- 
tortion, and  it  might  have  been  with  some  swearing,  had  we 
been  addicted  to  the  profane  habit  of  our  countrymen,  many  of 
whom  interlard  conversation  with  oaths  without  any  apparent 
necessity  for  their  emphatic  employment.  Expletives  are 
common  everywhere,  but  we  excel  in  downright  hard  swear- 
ing ;  profanity  for  the  sake  of  being  profane,  without  mean- 
ing any  harm.  In  some  places  oaths  are  employed  for  terms 
of  endearment,  as  Senator  Nye  once  explained  to  Charles 
Sumner.  In  the  United  States,  one  may  be  regarded  as  a 
gentleman  even  if  he  swears  and  chews  tobacco. 

The  deck  was  hardly  a  comfortable  place.  There  is  not 
much  fun  in  crouching  on  slippery  planks,  holding  on  like 
grim  death,  or  being  lashed,  which  is  the  only  safe  precau- 
tion ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  constant  showers  of  spray  whirl- 
ing overhead  ;  so   we  made   the   best  of  it  and  kept  in  our 


A   HARBOR   REACHED.  43 

berths.  To  brace  up  required  some  skill  in  equitation  ;  we 
could  not  read  because  of  the  general  shakiness,  and  smoking 
was  forbidden  by  the  lack  of  adequate  ventilation.  This  con- 
dition lasted  until  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
next  day,  when,  after  laying  to  for  seventeen  hours,  we  found 
ourselves  in  a  dilemma.  The  wind,  which  had  been  blowing 
from  south-by-east,  shifted  and  came  out  of  the  northwest  with 
equal  violence.  Here  was  a  complication ;  we  were  struck 
between  wind  and  water.  The  yacht  couldn't  carry  sail  with 
such  a  gale  blowing,  nor  could  she  be  laid  to  in  the  direction 
contrary  to  that  she  had  occupied,  for  the  sea  was  running 
very  high  from  the  southward,  and  if  she  turned  about  and 
pointed  northwest  she  would  take  the  waves  over  the  stern 
and  run  the  risk  of  being  swamped.  It  was  a  perplexing  mo- 
ment for  the  sailing-master,  who  had  to  decide  quickly. 
Were  it  possible  to  lay  to  on  the  other  quarter  without  being 
pooped,  wearing  ship  would  be  attended  with  difficulty,  and 
something  unpleasant  might  happen  if  the  yacht  broached 
to.  Then  he  found  that  the  vessel  was  not  long  enough  to 
"  reach  "  as  the  sea  was  running,  so  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  buck  into  the  waves,  run  under  bare  poles  and  take 
the  chances.  A  bit  of  canvas  was  set,  a  reefed  fore-staysail 
about  as  big  as  a  Deerfield  pocket-handkerchief,  and  off  she 
started  before  the  wind,  breasting  the  sea  gallantly,  driving 
her  bowsprit  into  the  advancing  waves  and  rising  like  a  duck, 
shaking  herself  as  she  emerged  and  casting  the  waves  con- 
temptuously on  either  side.  She  reminded  one  of  a  noble 
Newfoundland  dog  plunging  into  the  surf.  It  was  a  grand 
sight :  the  huge  waves  advanced,  towering  far  above  the 
yacht  as  if  they  would  overwhelm  her,  and  just  as  it  seemed 
that  she  was  about  to  be  engulfed,  she  would  lift  up  her  head 
and  the  threatening  waves  would  glide  harmlessly  under  the 
keel.     Peerless  yacht  Montauk  ! 


44  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

A  little  of  this  went  a  good  way  with  us  ;  it  was  a  splendid 
display,  but  we  didn't  stay  outside  in  the  storm  ;  we  knew 
enough  to  come  in  when  it  rained.  The  usual  attention  was 
not  paid  to  the  cuisine  during  that  forty  hours  below.  The 
table  was  not  spread.  There  were  several  sets  of  dishes  in 
the  steward's  pantry,  but  no  dishes  set  on  the  table.  Too  much 
knocking  about  for  unguyed  crockery.  Then  I  don't  think 
we  had  much  appetite,  notwithstanding  we  took  considerable 
exercise  on  an  empty  stomach.  Fortunately  we  had  a  good 
dinner  Friday,  as  we  ate  nothing  Saturday  except  some 
chicken-soup,  served  in  teacups  at  the  berth-side.  This  was 
the  only  meal  between  Friday's  dinner  and  breakfast  Sunday 
morning.  Nothing  is  so  good  for  the  health  as  abstinence  ; 
we  all  eat  too  much.  After  nightfall,  the  head-sea  went  down 
under  the  northwest  gale,  and  rose  in  the  opposite  quarter, 
but,  as  we  were  scudding  before  the  wind,  and  the  sea  was 
running  with  us,  we  moved  along  with  comparative  comfort. 
Sunday,  the  wind  lulled,  but  the  waves  ran  high  and  looked 
sullen  and  treacherous,  oppressed  by  the  gloomy  clouds.  All 
through  Monday  we  made  but  little  progress,  the  wind  being 
light,  but  at  night  the  gale  set  in  again  from  the  southeast 
with  greater  violence  than  it  exhibited  Friday  and  Saturday. 
We  knew  then  that  it  was  a  circular  storm,  a  windy  Monsieur 
Tonson  come  again^  and  that  it  must  be  a  hurricane,  which 
caught  us  somewhere  within  its  radius.  The  wind  blew  at 
least  sixty  miles  an  hour.  I  didn't  go  on  deck  to  hold  up 
a  wet  finger  as  an  anemometer,  but  the  sailors  said  that  facing 
it  they  could  hardly  hold  their  breaths.  I  had  been  reading 
up  the  hurricane  question.  The  yacht's  library  contains  a 
large  collection  of  maritime  works,  among  them  some  books 
published  by  the  Government,  giving  information  regarding 
tides  and  currents,  with  valuable  meteorological  observations. 
I  flatter  myself  I  am  well  up  in  storms.     I  learned  that  when 


A    HARHOR    RKACIIED.  45 

the  barometer  fell  to  29.50  it  indicated  a  hurricane,  and  one 
of  the  books  gave  directions  how  to  escape  from  the  \ortex. 
This  is  not  the  regular  season,  but  I  thought  one  might  be 
out  on  the  road,  taking  a  strolling  tour,  vagrantly  fl\'ing 
around  loose  in  these  parts — a  hurricane  tramp  as  it  were. 
It  was  possible  that  one  might  have  been  left  over  from  last 
fall's  stock  and  put  in  among  the  spring  goods  by  mistake. 

The  grave  question  was  the  state  of  the  barometer.  This 
was  watched  with  as  much  solicitude  as  the  election  returns 
from  an  October  State.  It  is  situated  in  the  companion-way 
over  the  saloon  door.  We  took  observations  of  it  with  long 
wax  tapers.  At  midnight  the  glass  was  falling  fast.  Occa- 
sionally a  spectral  figure,  in  pajamas,  could  be  seen  stumb- 
ling along — like  some  white-robed  sinner,  taper  in  hand, 
making  an  exi)iatory  pilgrimage — peering  anxiously  at  the 
barometer.  About  two  o'clock  Tuesday  morning,  things  be- 
came what  is  popularly  described  as  "  mi.xed."  The  wind 
howled  like  a  Mississippi  camp-meeting  feeling  the  "  power  ;  " 
the  roar  was  deafening,  and  all  the  experiences  of  h'riday 
night  were  renewed,  only  a  little  more  so.  At  three  o'clock. 
Uncle  John,  who  was  at  that  moment  the  rueful  Knight  of 
the  taper,  keeping  watch  and  ward  over  the  barometer,  ex- 
claimed :  "  The  glass  has  gone  down  eight  points  in  fifteen 
minutes;  it  is  now  at  29.50."  This  was  the  hurricane  Rubi- 
con. This  crucial  point  passed,  we  had  the  v^orte.x  business,  I 
had  been  studying  up,  on  hand.  It  ojipresscd  me.  In  my 
life  I  had  faced  some  difficulties  successfully.  I  had  taught 
clodhopjiers  to  salute  officers  in  the  military  st\'le,  I  had 
drilled  political  torch-bearers,  but  I  doubted  m\-  abilit\-  to 
handle  a  vortex. 

Then,  for  the  first  time  that  dolorous  night,  the  Commo- 
dore appeared  on  the  scene.  He  has  a  large  cabin  of  his 
own,  with  a  wide  double-bed.  and,  ha\ing  more  lee-wa}',  can 


46  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

be  knocked  about  with  less  discomfort  than  if  he  were  in  an  or- 
dinary berth,  with  not  so  much  space  to  pay  out  when  a  blow 
comes  on.  He  had  been  thrown  out  on  the  floor  of  his  room 
nevertheless,  and  appeared  at  the  door  of  the  saloon  before 
reentering  his  berth.  Said  he,  with  the  laconicism  of  an  old 
salt,  "  You  are  looking  at  the  wrong  glass."  Libbianio  !  Si- 
lence. We  look  at  the  other  glass.  In  point  of  fact,  we  look 
into  two  of  them.  Then,  with  observant  taper  light,  I  ap- 
proach the  barometer  and  gaze  at  it,  mournfully,  reproach- 
fully. The  needle  hovers  over  the  fateful  point  29.50.  It 
oscillates  tremulously,  as  if  restrained  by  some  better  impulse 
before  taking  another  downward  step  in  the  path  to  destruc- 
tion. I  breathe  upon  it.  It  flutters  doubtfully  at  receiving 
the  communication  from  the  other  glass.  It  doesn't  go  below 
29.50,  but  remains  fixed  there,  and  shortly  after,  feeling  the 
influence  of  the  spirits,  shows  an  inclination  to  ascend.  That 
glass  of  old  Oscar  Pepper  was  too  strong  for  the  weather- 
glass.    The  hurricane  is  averted.     We  are  saved  ! 

We  lay  to  for  eight  hours,  but  the  gale  blew  itself  out  be- 
fore morning,  like  a  stump-speaker  whose  supplies  are  cut  oft 
by  the  committee.  That  night  there  were  three  watches,  all 
on  duty  at  once  ;  the  starboard  and  port  watches  on  deck, 
and  the  barometer  watch  below.  After  breakfast  we  found  a 
heavy  sea  on,  but  it  was  subsiding  slowly.  The  day  was 
cloudy,  and,  as  no  observation  could  be  taken,  we  were  un- 
certain as  to  our  position.  No  observation  had  been  had 
since  Friday  ;  this  was  the  fourth  day  of  the  sun's  obscura- 
tion. Theretofore  the  yacht  had  been  sailed  by  dead  reckon- 
ing, and,  as  the  allowance  for  drifting  during  the  gales  was 
necessarily  guess-work,  we  could  not  determine  where  we 
were  with  precision.  Masses  of  gulf-weed  floated  by,  speci- 
mens of  which  were  fished  up,  and  some  of  them  are  enclosed 
in  this  letter.     The  gulf-weed  does  not  come  from  the  Gulf, 


A    HARBOR    REACHED.  4/ 

as  its  name  would  imply,  but  grows  in  the  great  Sargasso 
beds  at  the  bottom  of  the  iVtlantic,  somewhere  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Azores,  or  propagates  itself  floating,  a  habitat  for  in- 
digenous parasites,  crabs,  and  moUusks.  We  found  some 
tiny  Crustacea  clinging  to  the  branches  we  took  aboard,  which 
had  probably  embarked  on  a  voyage  to  Europe  but  came  to 
grief  in  mid-ocean.  I  send  you  some  of  these  diminutive  mcjl- 
lusks,  they  are  something  like  the  crabs  we  find  in  oysters. 
I  am  not  enough  of  a  naturalist  to  describe  the  various  living 
things  found  in  the  interstices  of  the  weed,  l^esides,  I  am 
not  writing  an  encyclopedia,  and  don't  pretend  to  convey 
much  information  in  these  letters.  They  are  principally  per- 
sonal experiences  and  gossip,  with  an  occasional  fact  thrown 
in.  like  the  infrequent  raisin  in  plum-duff.  You  must  go  to 
the  books  for  knowledge.  You  can  simply  get  an  idea  of 
what  the  gulf-weed  is  by  the  sprig  I  send.  A  full  branch  is 
very  pretty,  with  its  slender,  graceful  stalks,  bearing  yellow 
berries,  something  like  the  mistletoe. 

We  saw  a  good  man}'  flying-fish  darting  over  the  waves, 
singly  and  in  groups,  like  swallows  skimming  the  surface. 
At  night  the  steward  was  smoking  a  cigar  forward  when  one  of 
these  fish  flew  on  deck,  attracted  by  the  glow.  Perhaps  it  only 
came  aboard  to  ask  the  steward  for  a  light,  but  he  didn't  \'iew 
it  in  that  light,  and  brought  the  fish  to  us.  It  is  shapely  and, 
with  wings  expanded,  not  unlike  the  swallow  in  appearance. 
As  the  next  day  was  Ash-Wednesda}',  and  I  make  viai^ij^rc 
(the  way  we  did  at  the  gray  old  College  dc  Stc.  IlyacintJic),  the 
steward  offered  to  cook  it  for  me  as  a  bonne  bouchc,  but  I  re- 
fused. In  the  first  place,  I  couldn't  indulge  in  any  luxury, 
even  piscatorial,  on  the  first  day  of  Lent,  and  then  the 
pretty  fish  looked  so  imploring,  quivering  in  the  steward's 
grasp  with  a  frightened  look  in  its  glittering  eyes,  th.it  I 
couldn't  find  it  in  my  heart  to  eat  it.      I  would  as  soon  have 


48  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

thought  of  eating  a  singing-bird.  It  would  give  me  indiges- 
tion. 

Wednesday  opened  bright  and  fair,  and  we  bowled  along 
right  merrily  under  unclouded  skies,  with  zestful  enjoy- 
ment enhanced  by  past  tribulation.  We  often  met  that 
venturesome  little  mariner,  the  nautilus,  riding  over  the 
waves,  as  confidently  as  if  he  were  a  great  ship,  instead 
of  a  bit  of  fragile  shell  with  a  membraneous  pink  sail.  He 
always  goes  in  ballast,  never  carries  cargo,  and  is  himself 
his  only  passenger,  and  by  the  time  he  reaches  the  other 
side  he  must  be  a  dead-head  at  that.  He  didn't  hail  us 
as  we  passed,  not  even  to  ask  us  where  the  National  Com- 
mittee had  decided  to  hold  the  next  convention  to  nominate 
a  candidate  for  President  to  take  a  mud-bath.  The  sailors 
call  this  odd  little  shell  the  Portuguese  man-of-war  ;  why,  I 
could  not  learn. 

Although  observance  is  not  obligatory  at  sea,  we  kept 
Ash-Wednesday  with  conventional  rigor.  We  are  scrupu- 
lous about  recognizing  all  the  feasts,  and  do  not  always  forget 
the  fasts,  though  they  seem  to  have  a  looser  hold  on  the  re- 
mindful conscience.  Yes,  we  observed  Ash-Wednesday  re- 
ligiously. We  had  codfish  pate's  for  breakfast,  and  boiled  cod 
with  egg-sauce  for  dinner. 

Toward  evening,  anxiety  set  in  as  to  our  whereabouts. 
The  observations  showed  that  we  could  not  be  far  from  Ber- 
muda, but  a  slight  chronometric  variation  might  send  us  so 
far  westward  that  we  would  fail  to  see  the  light,  and  pass  the 
islands  in  the  night.  The  group  is  not  large,  and  may  be 
easily  missed,  particularly  where  you  have  been  working  by 
dead-reckoning  for  four  days,  laying  to  twice  in  hurricanes, 
where  allowance  for  drifting  has  to  be  made  by  conjecture. 
However,  the  anxious  consultation  that  was  going  on  between 
the  sailing-master  and  a  conferree  (shall  1  mention  him  ?  no, 


A   HARBOR   REACHED.  49 

modesty  forbid  !  it  is  sufficient  to  sa\-  that  lie  owned  a  com- 
pass), was  interrupted  by  the  look-out  cryiiii^,  "  Lic^ht  on  the 
port  bow,  sir  !  "     We  had  made  l^ermuda  liglit. 

We  lay  off  St.  George's  all  night,  and  the  next  morning 
were  boarded  by  a  pilot,  who  said  that  the  breeze  was  good 
but  nearly  ahead,  and  he  doubted  whether  we  could  make  up 
through  the  crooked  channel  of  Hamilton  Harbor  until  it 
shifted.  The  sailing-master  asked  him  where  we  were  to  go, 
and  when  the  marking  buoys  were  pointed  out,  simply  said 
that  we  could  get  there.  And  so  we  did,  greatly  to  pilot 
Peter's  astonishment,  who  had  never  seen  a  vessel  sail  so 
close  on  the  wind,  or  come  about  in  little  more  space  than 
her  own  length.  "  I  never  sec'd  nothin'  like  that  before,  and 
I'm  an  old  sailor,"  was  his  admiring  comment.  Yet  Peter 
refused  to  take  our  sheet-iron  stove  for  his  pilot  fee. 

Away  then — by  the  sturdy  fortifications  of  St.  George's, 
the  hospital  glimmering  white  in  the  transparent  air  ;  through 
sparkling  waters  of  pale-green  tint,  looking  like  a  tray  of 
mi.xed  diamonds  and  emeralds  flashing  in  the  agitation  of 
some  unseen  power  ;  past  Ireland  Island,  where  the  mam- 
moth floating-dock  loomed  up  like  some  mighty  marine 
monster  stranded  on  the  beach  -until  at  length  we  dropped 
anchor  in  Hamilton  Harbor.  Hardly  had  we  rounded  to, 
when  a  resonant  voice  came  hailing  out,  and  a  hand  waved 
in  friendly  recognition  from  the  shore.  It  was  the  hearts- 
greeting  of  a  member  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club,  Ca[)tain 
F.  W.  J.  Hurst,  who  had  arrived  by  the  New  York  steamer  a 
few  days  before,  and  now  stood  on  the  dock,  offering  us  wel- 
come such  as  a  warm,  enthusiastic  nature  like  his  is  capable 
of  extending.  He  is  an  old  resident  of  Bermuda,  and  soon 
came  aboard,  with  some  of  his  relatives  of  the  Darrell  famih', 
a  few  of  whom  will  be  mentioned  hereafter.  Our  appearance 
was  an  agreeable  surprise  to  Captain  Hurst,  who  encountered 
4 


50  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

the  first  hurricane  I  have  mentioned  while  on  the  steamer,  and 
surmised  that  we  had  been  blown  off  our  course,  and  would 
be  heard  from  somewhere  in  the  West  Indies.  Our  friend 
Captain  E.  E.  Chase,  owner  of  the  yacht  Clio,  N.  Y.Y.C., 
who  was  visiting  the  island  with  Captain  Hurst,  also  came 
aboard.  After  examination  by  the  Health  Officer,  the  Com- 
modore went  ashore,  reported  at  the  Custom  House,  called 
upon  the  U.  S.  Consul,  was  put  down  at  the  Royal  Bermuda 
Yacht  Club,  and  in  a  few  hours  we  were  made  to  feel  en- 
tirely at  home  in  hospitable  Bermuda. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BERMUD.V. 

Bermuda — Settlement  —  Government  —  Departed  Glories  —  Religion  — 
Revenues — Exports  and  Imports — Climate — Vegetables — Flowers — 
Waicr — Fruits — Dock-yard. 

Hamilton,  March  3,  1884. 
Bermuda  is  a  queer  old  place.  It  is  a  group  of  islands, 
popularly  supposed  to  number  three  hundred  and  sixty-five, 
corresponding  numerically  with  the  days  of  the  year,  as  our 
old  negro  pilot,  Peter  Smith,  informed  tis  when  he  came 
aboard.  As  this  exact  number  is  allotted  to  groups  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  it  is  given  probably  without  exactitude  ;  still 
there  are  over  a  hundred  islands  in  the  group,  the  largest, 
Long.  Island,  containing  the  principal  town  of  Hamilton, 
which  gives  the  name  to  the  harbor  in  which  we  are  anchored. 
St.  George's,  on  the  other  side,  is  fortified  by  a  formidable 
armament,  which  looks  imposing  as  we  enter,  from  the  sea, 
the  channel  which  it  commands.  Ireland  Island  is  the  most 
important,  as  here  is  the  naval  station,  with  extensive  arsen- 
als and  workshops.  It  was  formerly  a  convict  station,  but 
has  not  been  used  as  a  penal  settlement  for  twenty  years 
past.  The  fine  roads,  many  of  them  hewn  out  of  the  solid 
rock,  which  are  everywhere  in  these  islands,  were  mainly  the 
work  of  convicts. 

The  islands,  rising  grimly  out  of  the  sea,  remote  from  the 
mainland  (the  nearest  point  being  Cape  Hattcras,  six  hundred 


52  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

miles  distant),  were  originally  a  coral  formation.  The  action 
of  the  waves,  throwing  sand  upon  them,  caused  masses  to  be 
piled  up,  which  atmospheric  influences  converted  into  lime- 
stone, covered  in  time  with  soil  and  vegetation.  This  lime- 
stone is  soft,  though  not  friable,  and  is  quarried  with  hand- 
saws. It  is  strange  to  see  a  man  digging  the  cellar  of  his 
house  with  a  saw,  and  erecting  the  superstructure  from  the 
product  of  his  excavation.  The  houses  are  roofed  with  the 
same  stone,  and,  as  a  rule,  are  whitewashed  all  over,  pre- 
senting a  vivid  glare,  not  ungrateful  when  peeping  out  isolated 
from  amid  verdure,  but  somewhat  monotonous  and  trying  to 
the  eye  when  grouped.  Viewed  from  the  deck  of  a  vessel 
in  harbor,  the  village  of  Hamilton,  bathed  in  moonlight,  en- 
hancing its  pallor,  reminds  one  of  the  cemetery  of  Pire  la 
Chaise,  with  its  massive  tombs  staring  out,  ghostly  mansions 
in  a  veritable  city  of  the  dead.  But  here  the  comparison 
ends  ;  for  Hamilton,  sleeping  placid  in  the  silvery  light,  has  a 
great,  warm,  noble  heart  pulsing  generous  red  blood  beneath 
its  outward  paleness.  Then  there  is  no  tomb  of  Abelard  and 
Heloise  for  weeping  lovers'  pilgrimage.  Bermuda  is  too 
proper  to  tolerate  such  vagaries. 

Bermuda  is  the  oldest  English  colony.  The  islands  were 
discovered  by  Juan  Bermudez,  a  Spaniard,  whose  vessel  was 
wrecked  on  the  reefs,  twenty-three  years  after  the  discovery 
of  America  by  Columbus.  Twelve  years  afterward,  Camelo 
made  an  abortive  effort  to  settle  the  islands  for  Spain.  In 
1609,  ninety-four  years  after  the  discovery  by  Bermudez,  Sir 
George  Somers  was  shipwrecked  here,  and  remained  several 
months,  when  he  sailed  for  Virginia.  Virginia  being  in  great 
necessity,  he  volunteered  to  return  to  Bermuda  to  obtain  a 
supply  of  provisions  for  suffering  Virginians.  He'died  here  in 
November  ensuing.  General  J.  H.  Lefroy,  twice  Governor 
of  Bermuda,  caused  a  tablet  to  be  placed  in  the  wall  near  his 


]5i:kml'da.  53 

monument  in  St.  George's  (named  after  him)  containinfj  tliis 
inscription  : 

"  Near  this  spot  was  interred  in  the  year  1616  the  heart 
of  the  heroic  Admiral  Sir  George  Somers,  Kt.,  who  nobly 
sacrificed  his  life  to  carry  succour  to  the  infant  and  suffering 
plantation,  now  the  State  of  Virginia.  To  preserve  his  fame 
for  future  ages  near  the  scene  of  his  memorable  shipwreck, 
1609,  the  Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  this  colony, 
for  the  time  being,  caused  this  tablet  to  be  erected  1876." 

The  government  of  the  colony  was  administered  b}-  the 
Bermuda  Company  until  1687,  when  it  was  dissolved,  and 
Sir  Richard  Robinson  was  appointed  Governor  by  the  I^ritish 
Crown.  There  is  a  large  number  of  officials,  imperial  and 
colonial,  whose  names  make  quite  an  imposing  array  in  the 
pages  of  the  "  Bermuda  Almanack,"  a  valuable  compendium, 
statistical,  and  historical,  published  by  ?\Ir.  Lee,  of  the  Bcr- 
)iiuda  Royal  Gazette,  a  newspaper  founded  o\'cr  fifty  )-ears 
ago.  The  Governor's  whole  salary  amounts  to  $15,000,  in- 
cluding. I  suppose,  his  pay  as  an  officer  of  the  British  Army; 
of  which  $3,500  is  paid  by  the  Colony.  The  next  largest 
salary  is  that  of  the  Chief  Justice,  $3,500  and  fees.  In  looking 
over  the  list,  I  find  that  the  poorest  paid  officer  is  the  Solicitor- 
General,  Richard  D.  Darrell,  who  is  marked  "  Xo  salar\-." 
If  scholarly  attainments  and  attractive  personal  attributes 
constituted  the  requisites  for  official  place,  there  would  be  no 
position,  howsoever  eminent,  beyond  Mr.  Darrcll's  deserts, 
nor  any  that  he  would  not  dignify  and  adorn.  And  were  re- 
muneration commensurate  with  merit,  his  citioluments  would 
be  exceedingly  large. 

The  Governor  of  Bermuda  is  appointed  by  the  Crown,  as 
are  colonial  officials  generally,  but  there  is  a  pretense  of  rep- 
resentative government,  in  a  Mouse  of  Assembl}-,  consisting 
of  thirty-six  members,  elected  septennially,    four   from  each 


54  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

parish,  by  qualified  voters.  Happy  land  !  where  an  election 
is  held  but  once  in  seven  years.  The  number  of  voters  is 
968 — 675  white  and  293  colored.  Thus  there  is  one  repre- 
sentative for  every  27  voters.  In  Smith  parish  there  are  49 
qualified  voters,  each  Member  of  Assembly  from  that  pre- 
cinct representing  12  electors,  with  one  extra  as  a  reserve. 
With  a  like  ratio  of  representation,  the  State  of  New  York 
would  have  an  Assembly  of  100,000  members,  and  a  Sen- 
ate of  25,000.  Shade  of  Buddy  Parns  !  defend  us  from  any 
increase  in  the  existing  membership. 

The  resident  population  of  Bermuda,  according,  to  the 
census  of  1881,  is  13,948 — 5,384  white,  and  8,564  colored. 
In  addition,  are  some  hundreds  connected  with  the  military 
and  naval  establishments.  Stationed  here  at  present,  are  the 
Second  Battalion  (84th)  York  and  Lancaster  Regiment  of 
Foot,  and  some  companies  of  Artillery  and  Royal  Engineers. 
This  is  the  headquarters  of  the  British  Naval  Station  for  the 
western  hemisphere,  the  fleet  in  the  waters  consisting  of  four- 
teen vessels  of  various  sizes,  ranging  from  the  armor-plated, 
double-screw  ship,  Northampton,  7,630  tons,  to  the  gunboat 
of  430  tons.  Among  these  is  a  Confederate  ram  captured 
during  our  civil  war. 

Here  are  no  manufactures,  no  evidences  of  mechanical 
occupation,  no  chimneys  reeking  with  the  sulphurous  breath 
of  toiling  machinery.  We  saw  a  steam-engine  in  the  carpenter- 
shop  of  Mr.  Jackson,  who  not  only  runs  the  carpenter's  horse, 
but  a  livery  stable  as  well.  His  main  business  seemed  to  be 
the  construction  of  burial  cases  from  the  native  cedar,  which 
apparently  makes  an  attractive,  comfortable,  and  satisfactory 
coffin.  Although  the  climate  is  a  great  promoter  of  longevity, 
there  is  an  occasional  death  in  Bermuda.  Mr.  Jackson,  who  is 
an  intelligent  gentleman  of  color,  of  mixed  race,  with  pleasing 
manners  and  address,  showed  us  a  backgammon  board,  which 


BERMUDA.  55 

contained  many  variegated  specimens  of  the  cedar.  Speak- 
ing of  the  colored  population,  which  largely  outnumbers  the 
white,  except  when  it  comes  to  voting,  the  colored  people 
are  ordinarily  quiet,  orderly,  temperate,  and  industrious. 
Nearly  all  the  manual  labor  is  performed  by  them,  and  there 
are  no  other  domestic  servants.  They  are  the  pilots,  boat- 
men, coachmen,  cooks,  chambermaids,  waiters,  and  gardeners. 
The  whites  are  merchants,  doctors,  lawyers,  and  priests. 

Formerly  there  was  much  shipping  at  this  port,  but  it  has 
nearly  vanished  ;  the  merchant  vessels  owned  numbering  less 
than  a  dozen,  with  not  more  than  a  hundred  mariners.  Things 
were  different  in  the  lush  days  of  blockade-running  during  our 
civil  war,  when  Bermuda  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  runners. 
Then  it  w^as  crowded  with  adventurous  sailors,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  bold  privateers,  who  thronged  the  streets, 
scattering  dollars  with  lavish  hand,  must  liavc  suggested 
shadowy  recollections  of  old-time  stories  of  dashing  buc- 
caneers, sailing  among  the  West  Indies,  and  ravaging  the 
Spanish  Main.  They  were  calculated  to  bring  to  mind  the 
wondrous  feats  of  Morgan  and  Black  Beard,  which  fas- 
cinated our  boyhood's  days  in  the  "  Pirate's  Own  Book," 
and  made  the  hair  stand  on  end  in  that  dimly-remote 
period  when  there  was  hair  to  stand.  This,  of  course,  with- 
out the  blood-stains  which  mark  the  record  of  piratical  ex- 
ploits ;  for  the  modern  privateer  was  a  most  inoffcnsi\e,  mild- 
mannered  gentleman,  in  guileless  pursuit  of  the  honest  dollar, 
who  felt  cotton  and  tested  tobacco  instead  of  handling  cutlass 
and  boarding-pike.  No  doubt  blockade-running  was  remu- 
nerative to  Bermuda,  a  convenient  w-ay-station  where  seafarers 
stopped  for  refreshments,  and  there  would  be  little  regret 
felt,  perhaps,  if  another  scrimmage  were  to  break  out  which 
would  bring  her  advantageous  position  to  a  profitable  market. 
In  the  matter  of  wrecking,  she  presents  superior  attractions, 


$6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

her  coral  reefs  extending  far  out  to  embrace,  siren-like,  the 
Unwary  ship,  while  the  tortuous  channel  of  entrance  can  only 
be  threaded  by  experienced  native  pilots.  But  there  are  not 
many  wrecks  around  in  these  degenerate  days  of  steam  navi- 
gation. Indeed,  Bermuda,  not  to  put  too  fine  a  point  on  it, 
may  be  described  as  quiet.  Hamilton  Harbor  is  no  longer 
white  with  sails,  nor  do  the  wharves  exhibit  the  bustling  ac- 
tivity of  a  seaport  town.  Front  Street  is  almost  deserted, 
and  where  'urst,  the  gay  blockade-runner,  adorned  the  side- 
walk with  debonair  presence,  lethargic  trade  flows  in  unevent- 
ful currents  through  commonplace,  sluggish  channels.  It 
would  seem  as  if  nothing  could  be  quieter  than  Hamilton  on 
secular  days,  but  the  acme  of  repose  is  attained  on  Sunday, 
which  is  observed  rigidly,  with  almost  Puritanical  severity, 
notwithstanding  the  affiliation  of  nearly  the  whole  population 
with  the  Church  of  England. 

Perhaps  this  sabbatical  tone  is  owing,  in  some  measure, 
to  the  fact  that  Bermuda  was  settled  about  the  time  of  Puri- 
tan ascendancy  in  England,  the  formal  incorporation  of  the 
Bermuda  Company,  which  administered  affairs  for  seventy 
years,  having  been  made  under  letters-patent  granted  by 
James  I.  These  colonists  would  be  astonished  to  drop  into 
Chicago,  of  a  Sunday,  and  see  the  theatres  open  and  the  res- 
taurants and  drinking  saloons  in  full  blast.  The  absence  of 
governmental  bigotry  is  evinced  in  the  grant  of  $50  per  an- 
num to  every  one  hundred  persons  of  each  denomination  ; 
the  Established  Church  receiving  $5,000;  the  Wesleyan, 
$850  ;  the  British  Methodist  Church,  $400  ;  the  Presbyterian, 
$350;  the  Roman  Catholic,  $200,  and  the  Reformed  Church 
of  England,  $200.  The  rectors  of  the  Church  of  England  re- 
ceive an  annual  allowance  of  $700.  The  religious  profession 
of  the  inhabitants  is  as  follows  :  Church  of  England,  10,000  ; 
Wesleyan  Methodist,    1,672;    British   Methodist  Episcopal, 


BERMUDA.  57 

752  ;  Presbyterian,  686  ;  Roman  Catholic,  391  ;  Reformed 
Church  of  Enghmd,  208  ;  other  denominations,  236.  It  w  ill 
thus  be  seen  that  the  entire  population  of  13,948  is  classified 
according  to  some  religious  profession.  Evidently  there  are 
no  atheists  nor  free-thinkers.  A  prudent  eye  watches  that 
allowance  of  fifty  cents  a  head.  As  brusque  Dr.  McCraith 
used  to  say,  with  reprehensible  irreverence  :  "  Religion,  what 
is  it  ?  Doviimis  Vobiscinn  ;  down  with  your  money  !  "  This 
would  be  a  paradise  for  timid  souls  who  live  in  constant  terror 
of  papal  aggression.  If,  as  was  suggested  by  the  Nciv  York 
Herald,  some  years  ago,  the  Pope  should  quit  Rome  and  es- 
tablish his  See  in  the  Western  world,  it  is  not  probable  that 
Bermuda  would  be  selected;  as  a  residence  with  a  contiguous 
parish  of  391  worshipers,  and  an  allowance  of  $200  per  an- 
num would  hardly  afford  opportunity  for  elaborate  displays 
of  the  stately  ceremonial  of  the  Church  of  Rome  at  the  Holy 
See.  In  a  religious  regard,  the  English  Government  affords 
a  favorable  contrast  to  the  Italian.  England  supports,  Italy 
robs,  the  Church. 

Bermuda  has  a  tariff  on  importations.  There  is  a  duty  of 
four  shillings  a  gallon  on  spirits,  and  twenty  per  cent,  ad  va- 
lorem on  wines.  The  revenue  of  the  Colony  from  importa- 
tions in  1883,  was  $123,875,  of  which  $62,910  was  from 
liquors;  $2,665  tobacco  ^"d  cigars;  $1,210  beef  cattle,  and 
$54,750  from  all  other  sources.  Falstafif's  estimate  of  the 
proper  proportion  of  bread  to  sack  would  seem  to  be  carried 
out  in  these  figures,  showing  the  relative  receipts  from  impor- 
tation of  spirits  and  beef. 

For  the  year  1882,  the  total  value  of  imports  was  $1,400,- 
000  ;  exports,  $450,000  ;  showing  a  balance  of  trade  against 
the  colony  of  $850,000.  The  greatest  disparity  is  in  the 
English  trade,  for  while  England  exported  to  Bermuda  $300,- 
000,  she  imported  in  return  but  $6,000.      The  United  States 


58  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

did  better.  We  sold  the  colony  $900,000  worth,  and  bought 
to  the  amount  of  $500,000.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  England  sends  large  sums  for  the  maintenance  of  her 
military  and  naval  establishments,  which  in  turn  maintain 
Bermuda  to  some  extent. 

In  1883,  the  value  of  vegetables  exported  was  :  Onions, 
$253,000;  potatoes,  $122,500;  tomatoes,  $35,000;  arrow- 
root, $2,600;  beets  and  other  vegetables,  $4,500.  The  ar- 
rowroot is  said  to  be  the  best  in  the  world,  yet,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  extent  of  exportation,  the  production  is  compar- 
atively insignificant.  The  onion  comes  to  the  front  as  the 
Bermuda  specialty,  with  the  potato  a  good  second  in  the  race. 
One  sees  onion  beds  everywhere.  The  spade  is  the  agricul- 
tural implement  in  general  use.  Reapers,  mowers,  binders, 
tedders,  and  other  labor-saving  devices  have  no  use  here. 
There  is  but  little  grass  for  the  mower  to  mow  ;  no  grain  for 
the  reaper  to  reap  ;  no  sheaves  for  the  binder  to  bind.  Even 
Uncle  David  Gray's  potato-digger  would  hardly  be  utilized  ; 
the  fields  are  not  large  enough  for  its  ambitious  grasp,  which 
extends  beyond  pent  up  Utica  and  broad  Marcy  to  fresh 
fields  of  illimitable  extent.  The  potato  patches  are  situated 
in  nooks.  It  looks  as  if  there  had  been  a  rain  of  vegetables, 
which  ran  down  the  stony  hillsides  in  rivulets  and  gathered 
into  onion  ponds  in  the  hollows.  After  all,  the  most  valuable 
plant  in  Bermuda  is  the  British  Army  and  Navy. 

The  climate  is  salubrious,  particularly  in  the  winter 
months,  when  the  growing  vegetation  affords  a  contrast  to 
the  snow-clad  hills  of  our  rigorous  Northern  clime.  Trees 
attain  no  considerable  altitude,  but  bear  the  somewhat  stunted 
appearance  incident  to  places  subjected  to  high  winds.  The 
principal  timber  tree  is  cedar,  which  has  a  grain  of  diversified 
beauty.  This  material  is  used  in  building  the  Bermudian 
boats,  which  have  some    celebrity  from    their   peculiar   rig. 


BERMUDA.  59 

There  are  palmettocs,  tropical  trees,  and  some  found  in  the 
temperate  zone.  Indeed,  in  its  appearance  and  products, 
Bermuda  is  a  sort  of  connecting  Hnk  between  the  temperate 
and  tropical ;  with  characteristics  of  both,  but  with  the  ex- 
clusive features  of  neither.  There  is  an  exuberance  of  flowers, 
particularly  roses,  which  are  of  extraordinary  variety.  The 
wonderful  display  of  geraniums  would  excite  the  envy  of  even 
Sam  Lane  Florus. 

The  water  is  brackish.  There  are  no  springs,  and  rain- 
water is  used  almost  exclusively.  Perhaps  this  accounts  for 
the  sparing  use  of  this  fluid  as  a  beverage.  We  saw  the  fa- 
miliar tumbler,  found  invariably  on  the  American  dinner  ta- 
ble, but  soon  learned  that  it  was  not  intended  for  water.  It 
was  a  beer  glass.  One  of  the  dinner  habits  here  is  to  serve 
beer,  after  the  usual  courses  of  wine,  before  dessert.  Xo  doubt 
it  is  a  good  digestive,  like  the  hot  whisky  punch  which  is  in- 
troduced at  the  same  stage  at  Irish  dinner  tables — the  "  liot 
wather  and  matayreals."  Water  being  such  an  expensive 
luxury,  the  frugal  Bermudian,  with  his  simple  tastes,  is  fain 
to  content  himself  with  whisky,  wine,  or  beer.  Strange  how 
rapidly  we  heeded  the  scriptural  injunction,  and  did  in  Ber- 
muda as  Bermudians  do.  The  facility  with  which  we  fell  into 
their  habits,  reflects  credit  upon  our  capacity  of  assimilation, 
and  we  manifested  the  greatest  philosophy  in  becoming  recon- 
ciled to  our  aqueous  deprivation.  Facilis  dtSCLUsiis  /  The 
water  taken  aboard  the  yacht  to  supply  the  exhaustion  of  our 
New  York  store  cost  three  cents  a  gallon.  Requiring  a  large 
quantity  of  ice,  it  was  furnished  at  twenty  dollars  a  ton.  The 
usual  price,  when  purchased  at  retail,  is  at  the  rate  of  forty  dol- 
lars, or  two  cents  a  pound.  In  our  voyage  to  the  W'est  In- 
dies, we  shall  be  prudently  careful  of  water,  and  use  it  only 
for  the  purposes  for  which  a  kind  Providence  designed  it  for 
mankind — cooking  and  washincf      Notwithstandinir   the   ab- 


6o  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

stention  from  the  use  of  water  as  a  beverage,  I  am  informed 
that  drunkenness  is  a  rarity  in  Bermuda.  Possibly  the  igno- 
rance of  prohibitory  legislation  may  have  some  bearing  on 
this  noteworthy  exemption  from  a  crying  evil  in  our  own 
land.  But  there  may  be  a  change  in  this  regard.  I  see  by  the 
"Bermuda  Almanack"'  that  there  are  some  lodges  of  Good 
Templars  established  for  the  promotion  of  teetotalism.  They 
might  import  a  few  drunkards  for  planting.  But  I  don't 
think  they  could  raise  a  crop.  Planting,  by  the  way,  is  the 
best  use  a  drunkard  can  be  put  to. 

The  Bermudians  may  not  be  entirely  abstemious,  but 
they  are  certainly  temperate.  There  are  no  intoxicating  liq- 
uors produced  on  the  island.  Soda-water  is  manufactured  to 
some  extent — for  diluting  brandy.  There  is  no  danger  of  a 
droughty,  however,  for  there  is  stored  here  a  quantity  of 
American  whisky — 90,000  barrels,  exported  by  the  distillers 
to  evade  the  payment  of  internal  revenue  tax  just  before  the 
expiration  of  the  bonded  period.  An  effort  was  made  to  tax 
this  wdiisky  for  the  benefit  of  the  Colony,  but  it  failed. 
Among  the  surmises  as  to  the  moving  cause  of  the  incendiar- 
ism which  recently  destroyed  the  handsome  parish  church  or 
cathedral,  was  a  suspicion  that  its  contiguity  to  the  ware- 
house where  this  whisky  is  stored  might  secure  a  wholesale 
unloading  of  watered  stock  on  the  insurance  companies. 
This  suspicion  was  as  unfounded,  no  doubt,  as  the  popular 
attribution  of  the  nefarious  act  to  Fenianism,  which  is  a  bug- 
bear among  cis-Atlantic  English  Colonies,  "to  fright  the  isle 
from  its  propriety."  I  took  occasion  to  say  that  my  sym- 
pathies were  entirely  with  the  cause  of  Irish  nationalism,  but  I 
believed  this  charge  was  unjust.  I  was  well  acquainted  with 
some  Fenians,  and  was  confident  that  the  cause  of  Ireland 
did  not  demand  the  destruction  of  the  churches  of  England. 
For  the  future  I  felt  assured,     I  knew  that  the  personal  friend- 


BERMUDA.  6l 

ship  for  me  of  a  gentleman  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  would  promi)t 
him  to  heed  my  intercession  and  "  let  up  "  on  Bermuda,  as  a 
recognition  of  the  kindness  extended  to  his  townsman. 

The  drives  through  Bermuda  arc  delightful.  Roads,  per- 
fectly smooth,  with  no  dust,  wind  among  deep  cuts  through 
solid  rock,  affording  sea-views  of  ever-shifting  attractiveness. 
I  have  never  seen  anything  like  the  diversified  tints  of  the 
water,  varying  from  a  peculiar  delicate  light  blue  to  the  dark 
ultramarine,  alternating,  as  the  water  is  deep  or  shoal,  with 
shimmering  colors  of  green.  The  foliage,  while  not  showing 
the  tender  verdure  seen  at  home,  is  not  without  beauty.  The 
substantial  stone  walls  bordering  the  road  are  covered  with 
trailing  vines,  laden  with  scarlet,  white,  and  pink  blossoms  ; 
and  oleander  hedges,  geranium  beds,  and  rose  trees  abound 
in  gorgeous  display.  I  question,  however,  the  abundance  of 
fruits  said  to  be  found  here.  Except  the  banana  and  the 
date,  or  fig,  so  called,  I  failed  to  find  any  large  supply  of 
fruits.  The  climate  is  adapted,  no  doubt,  to  the  growth  of 
the  strawberry,  and  it  might  be  cultivated,  but  it  is  not ; 
which  is  a  pity.  Good  old  Dr.  Boteler  said,  a  coui)le  of  hun- 
dred years  ago,  "  Doubtless  God  could  have  made  a  better 
berry  ;  but  doubtless  God  never  did."  I  would  rather  have 
the  apple  orchards  of  our  Clinton  hills  than  all  the  fruit-trees 
in  Bermuda. 

We  witnessed  a  battalion  drill  of  four  companies  of  the 
garrison,  under  command  of  Major  Luck.  The  movements 
were  not  much  diffeient  from  those  practiced  in  our  service, 
though  the  commands  were  simplified,  and  better  on  account 
of  their  brevity.  The  bayonet  exercise,  by  battalion  de- 
ployed at  skirmishing  intervals,  was  admirably  performed.  I 
have  never  seen  it  better  done,  except,  perhaps,  by  the 
Fifth  New  York  Volunteers  (Duryea  Zouaves),  noted  for  its 
proficiency  in  this  drill. 


62  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

The  most  interesting  point  in  Bermuda  is  Ireland  Island, 
containing  immense  workshops  for  naval  repairs,  and  the 
famous  floating-dock,  Bermuda,  the  largest  in  the  world, 
capable  of  docking  the  greatest  vessel  in  any  navy.  It  was 
built  in  England,  and  towed  across  the  Atlantic  by  two  men- 
of-war.  To  place  it  in  position,  1,200,000  cubic  feet  of  sand 
and  coral  were  dredged  up.  It  is  381  feet  long,  and  there 
are  in  it  no  less  than  3,000,000  rivets.  The  ship  of  war  Tene- 
dos,  of  about  2,000  tons  burden,  was  in  dock  while  we  were 
there,  and  it  looked  like  a  small  vessel  in  the  dwarfing  em- 
brace ot  the  mammoth  dock.  We  lunched  with  Captain 
Clapp,  Royal  Navy,  an  officer  in  charge,  who  had  sent  his 
steam-launch  to  convey  us  to  the  yard.  Captain  Clapp,  a 
model  British  naval  officer,  is  also  an  enthusiastic  yachtsman 
and  Commodore  of  the  Bermuda  Club. 

A  dingey  race  took  place  while  we  lay  in  the  harbor. 
The  Bermudians  are  not  given  to  brevity  in  the  matter  of 
titles  ;  and  the  imposing  magnitude  of  its  name,  "  The  Royal 
Hamilton  Amateur  Dingey  Club,"  is  in  inverse  ratio  with 
the  size  of  the  boats  of  this  organization  ;  the  maximum 
length  permitted  being  fourteen  feet,  one  inch.  Ordinarily 
these  races  are  quite  exciting  and  attended  with  ludicrous 
mishaps.  The  peculiar  rig,  with  the  mast  set  forward,  ren- 
ders the  dingey  liable  to  take  headers  into  the  waves  and  go 
under  if  the  sea  should  be  running  high.  The  race  in  ques- 
tion was  tame,  the  wind  not  blowing  fresh  enough  to  cause 
any  of  the  accidents  which  give  zest  to  the  lively  contests. 
These  little  boats  are  handled  with  much  skill. 

The  Government  House,  the  Governor's  official  residence, 
was  under  a  self-imposed  quarantine  on  account  of  the  illness 
of  one  of  General  Galhvey's  children,  but  the  General  paid  a 
visit  to  the  yacht,  accompanied  by  his  son  (a  fine  young  offi- 
cer, his    A.  D.  C.  and  private  secretary)  and  his  daughter, 


BERMUDA.  63 

regarding  whom  I  took  the  liberty  of  respectfully  suggesting, 
to  her  brother,  that  she  was  beautiful  and  graceful  enough  to 
be  taken  for  an  American  girl.  The  Lieutenant,  however, 
would  not  admit  our  national  superiority,  but  stoutly  main- 
tained English  supremacy,  saying  that  Rotten  Row,  in  Hyde 
Park,  would  afford  an  exhibition  of  charms  unequaled  in  the 
world.  But,  although  an  intelligent  young  man,  he  is  not 
well  educated  in  this  important  matter  ;  he  has  never  been 
in  the  United  States.  He  intends  to  visit  us  one  of  these 
days,  and  if  he  should,  I  will  have  him  come  to  Utica. 
There  he  will  find  how  greatly  he  is  mistaken. 

The  Governor  is  a  man  of  varied  knowledge,  thoroughly 
conversant  with  public  matters  throughout  the  world,  and 
particularly  well  informed  in  American  affairs.  He  was  in 
the  United  States  during  the  war,  but  Secretary  Stanton  de- 
nied him  the  facilities  he  desired  to  witness  our  operations. 
The  General  did  not  know  how  to  obtain  favors  from  the 
War  Department.  He  ought  to  have  procured  the  influence 
of  some  political  shouteror  shoddy  contractor  to  aid  him.  The 
Governor  appears  to  be  in  high  favor  with  the  Bermudians. 
I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  popularity  of  his  admin- 
istration (enhanced  by  his  agreeable  manners  and  charming 
family  surroundings)  is  aided  to  a  considerable  extent  by  the 
efficiency  of  the  Colonial  Secretary,  Hon.  Cavendish  Boyle, 
who  administers  his  office  with  ability  that  would  be  marked 
in  a  more  important  position. 

The  superiority  of  the  well-regulated  English  Civil  Ser- 
vice system,  to  our  disjointed,  erratic  way  of  doing  things,  is 
illustrated  in  his  case.  Men  are  trained  to  diplomatic  and 
governmental  service,  and  are  transferred  from  one  place  to 
another,  as  occasion  requires.  Appointments  depend  in 
some  degree  upon  political  influence,  and  administrative 
changes  involving  distribution  of  patronage,  but  the  abom- 


64  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Inable  doctrine,  "  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  applied  to 
subordinate  positions,  does  not  obtain.  With  us,  whenever 
there  is  a  change  of  administration,  every  "leader"  in  the 
victorious  ranks,  who  can  run  a  ward  caucus  successfully,  be- 
comes a  candidate  for  something,  or  rather  anything,  from 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  sweeper  in  a  Government  build- 
ing. Civil  service  in  England  is  genuine  ;  with  us  it  is  a  base 
pinchbeck  imitation,  a  good  deal  like  the  high-sounding  pro- 
fessions in  political  platforms,  and  protestations  of  windy 
demagogues.  The  difficulty  is  that  our  public  men  lack  the 
courae^e  to  disrec^ard  the  clamors  of  the  office-seeking- mob. 


CHArTER   VI. 

IIOSPITAISLK    BERMUDA. 

Letter-writing — Laziness — ///  re  Darri-lli — Festivities — Prnspcro's  Crot 
— The  Mess  Dinner — Benny  Havens,  Oh  I — Uncle  John — The  Happy 
Valley — Lily  Bower — At  Home — The  Hand-Clasp. 

Ox  Board  Montauk,  at  Ska, 
March  y,  1884,  Lat.  31.49  N.,  Lon.  63.51  W. 

I  HAD  intended  to  write  you  again  before  leaving  Hamilton 
Harbor,  but  lavish  Bermudian  hospitalities  interposed  insur- 
mountable obstacles.  I  might  say,  they  erected  barriers  of 
mountainous  generosity,  although  the  expression  may  ap- 
pear exaggerated  to  those  who  ha\-e  not  been  enabled,  b)- 
experience,  to  appreciate  the  appositeness  of  the  simile. 
What  with  dinners,  luncheons,  drives,  "  moist  "  chats  at  the 
Club,  visits  to  the  barracks  and  dock-yard  ;  together  with 
reciprocal  entertainment  aboard  the  yacht,  to  the  limilcd 
extent  afforded  by  shore  preoccupation,  we  barely  have  had 
time  to  meet  our  engagements,  with  none  to  spare  for  letter- 
writing,  liesides,  no  one  who  has  not  felt  the  laziness  of 
sea  voyaging  can  understand  the  effort  required  to  write. 
When,  for  example,  one  embarks  on  a  ste  imer  for  Tuuope, 
he  collects  a  small  library  of  books — mainly  of  the  light  liter- 
ary complexion -and  provides  ample  store  of  writing  ma- 
terials, with  suitable  blanks  for  memoranda,  jottings,  journals 
of  travel,  observations,  and  data  for  interesting  communica- 
tions to  friends  "  we  have  left  behind  ;  "  but  the  chances  are 


66  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

that  n"ot  a  letter  will  be  written  aboard,  and  hardly  a  book 
read.  But  on  a  steamer  there  is  the  acceptable  excuse  of 
looking  after  the  ladies  on  deck,  placing  chairs,  arranging 
shawls  and  rugs,  encircling — ahem  ! — when  the  ship  "  heels," 
and  paying  those  general  and  particular  little  attentions  ob- 
ligatory at  sea  ;  while  we,  having  no  ladies  on  board,  can 
offer  no  such  pretext  for  epistolary  negligence,  and  must 
frankly  attribute  it  to  the  real  cause — laziness,  I  hope  these 
desultory  scribblings  may  be  intelligible  ;  and,  although  dis- 
jointed and  shapeless,  not  uninteresting.  At  any  rate,  they 
possess  the  novelty  of  being  written  at  sea,  and  if  there 
should  be  nothing  fresh  in  them,  please  bear  in  mind  that 
the  sea  is  always  brackish. 

After  boring  you  with  all  the  dry  statistics  contained  in 
my  last  letter,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  introducing  here  some 
notes  of  personal  experiences,  which  may  not  be  of  much  in- 
terest to  you,  but  were  vastly  entertaining  to  our  party  while 
in  progress. 

The  afternoon  of  our  arrival  at  Bermuda,  we  were  invited 
by  Mr.  Henry  Darrell  to  drive  to  Cavendish,  the  residence 
of  his  father,  formerly  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony,  who  had 
a  little  party  to  celebrate  the  fifty-eighth  anniversary  of  his 
marriage.  As  we  drove  along  a  road  that  wound  through 
the  grounds,  and  approached  the  house  (the  only  one  in  Ber- 
muda from  which  the  sea  is  not  visible),  a  charming  sight 
met  our  eyes.  In  a  lovely,  tree-shaded  glade,  a  number  of 
young  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  playing  tennis  and  a  sort 
of  game  something  like  our  base-ball,  and  the  scene  was 
strikingly  like  a  rural  view  in  England.  Beneath  the  spread- 
ing branches  of  a  tree  near  the  house,  a  table  was  spread  with 
suitable  refreshments,  of  which  the  guests  partook  at  their 
convenience.  We  were  presented  to  the  Chief  Justice,  a 
venerable,  well-preserved,   suave  gentleman,   whose    eighty- 


HOSPITABLE   I5KKMUDA.  67 

eighth  birthday  was  close  at  hand,  and  liis  wife,  a  liandsome, 
cheerful,  stately  old  lady  of  eighty-one,  who  stood  b}-  his 
side,  entering  with  hearty  zest  into  the  youthful  enjoyment 
of  the  generations  of  their  descendants  by  whom  they  were 
surrounded.  We  took  a  glass  of  wine  with  the  aged  couple, 
and  couldn't  help  but  be  impressed  with  the  exceptional 
length  of  time  that  they  were  permitted  to  live  together,  in 
placid  communion,  unclouded  by  care,  exemplifying,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  the  beauties  of  domestic  life. 

The  Darrell  connection  seems  to  be  a  large  one  in  lier- 
muda,  and,  from  the  dignified  Chief  Justice,  "  full  of  wise 
saws  and  modern  instances,"  to  the  "  Infant"  of  Mr.  John 
H.  Darrell,  Jr.,  redolent  of  spirits  and  vix'acit}' — "  babe  in 
the  house,  a  well-spring  of  pleasure  " — they  appear  to  be  a 
truly  happy  family. 

In  the  evening  we  dined  with  Mr.  Hcnr\^  Darrell,  who 
lives  in  a  quaint,  commodious  house,  two  hundred  years  old, 
full  of  nooks  and  crannies  that  would  delight  the  heart  of 
that  unreasonable,  pessimistical  old  fogy  who  writes  on 
musty  topics  in  the  Utica  newspapers,  finding  nothing  to 
suit  him  now-a-days.  The  obsolete  four-posted  bedsteads 
and  cedar  chests  of  drawers,  of  veritable  antique  pattern, 
would  be  things  of  beauty  and  joy  to  him,  although  he  would 
resent  the  absence  of  dust,  to  which  Mr.  Darrell's  sister,  and 
housekeeper,  appears  to  have  an  unconquerable  aversion. 
Our  host  sat  at  the  head  of  his  bounteous  table  and  carved, 
in  the  good  old-fashioned  way,  spicing  the  delicious  dishes 
with  frequent  hon-mots  and  funny  stories,  f^r  he  is  a  w  itt\-  ra- 
coiitcur,  with  copious  store  of  anecdote,  foreign  and  domes- 
tic, at  the  command  of  his  ready  tongue.  He  lives,  like  a 
fine  old  English  gentleman,  on  his  own  estate,  lie  men- 
tioned, with  much  comi)lacency,  that  on  the  table  were  di- 
verse products  of  his  own  farm — the  fowls  were  from  his  barn- 


68  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

yard,  the  vegetables  fresh  plucked  from  his  garden,  the  fish 
caught  that  day  on  his  own  fish- farm,  in  pots  set  in  front  of 
the  shore  of  his  demesne,  and  the  flowers  grew  invitingly 
around  the  latch-string  that  hangs  outside  his  hospitable 
porch.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  wines  were  not  of 
home  vintage,  but  of  choice  importation — a  whiff  from 
the  open  mouth  of  a  special  bottle  of  Santa  Cruz  rum  came 
like  a  reminiscence  of  the  halcyon  days  when  a  famous  cellar 
in  Utica  responded  to  the  calls  of  Aaron  Burr,  the  venerable 
ex-mayor,  contemporary  of  James  Crumley,  and  other  gentle- 
men, all  of  the  olden  time,  who  wore  ruffled  shirts  and  knee 
breeches.  The  exceptional  coolness  of  the  evening  (it  must 
have  been  nearly  as  cold  as  a  May  day  in  New  York)  afforded 
a  pretext  for  lighting  the  unusual  fire,  which  shone  upon  us 
with  homelike  gleam  when  we  returned  to  the  cheerful  draw- 
ing-room. We  found  that  the  post-prandial  cigar,  an  indis- 
pensable adjunct  to  the  American  feast,  is  not  an  habitual 
sequence  to  the  Bermudian  dinner.  Universal  smoking  is 
not  a  feature  here.  We  met  many  men  who  did  not  smoke 
at  all,  and  but  few  are  cigar-smokers,  the  pipe  and  cigarette 
furnishing  fumiferous  indulgence  to  the  votaries  of  tobacco. 
After  a  brief  acquaintance  with  it,  I  don't  wonder  that  the 
Bermudian  cigar  finds  small  favor. 

Proffers  of  entertainment  greatly  exceeded  the  capacity 
of  acceptance  during  the  period  allotted  for  our  stay.  The 
British  Army  and  Navy  officers  vied  with  colonial  residents 
on  the  extension  of  kindly  attention.  A  dinner  given  by  Mr. 
F.  W.  J.  Hurst,  at  which  Capt.  Chase  and  Mr.  D.  S.  Apple- 
ton,  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Bloor,  of  Philadelphia,  were 
present,  was  most  enjoyable,  and  fully  maintained  the  reputa- 
tion held  by  the  jovial  host  in  the  city  of  his  adoption. 

Lady  Commerell,  wife  of  Vice-Admiral  Sir  John  E.  Com- 
merell,  in  command   of  the  naval  station,  sent  us  cards  for 


HOSPITABLE    BERMIDA.  69 

her  reception,  and  beinij  unable  to  accept,  our  regrets  were 
sent  by  one  of  the  quartermasters,  a  spruce  young  sailor,  in 
yacht  uniform.  Admiralty  House  being  distant,  he  procured 
a  carriage  and  was  driven  up  there  ;  the  sight  of  a  sailor,  in 
full  seaman's  rig,  riding  in  solitary  grandeur,  being  something 
of  a  novelty.  Somebody  suggested  that  a  bicycle  would  have 
been  a  more  stunning  vehicle  for  nautical  service.  Then  he 
would  have  been  taken  for  part  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

Mr.  Boyle  and  Lieut.  Gallwey  gave  a  dinner  at  the  Club, 
with  a  capital  menu,  but  particularly  pleasant  in  its  con- 
genial characterization.  It  sparkled  with  wit,  lumior,  sen- 
timent and  song.  A  very  late  game  of  pool  was  engaged 
in  after  dinner,  which  was  played  differently  from  the 
American  game,  each  player  having  a  special  object  ball  ; 
but  one  of  our  party  came  off  triumphantly,  winner  of  two 
shillings.  Thus  did  he  inflict  retributive  financial  justice  upon 
Bermuda  for  harboring  blockade-runners  during  our  war ; 
and,  as  there  were  some  English  army  officers  participating, 
give  the  tail  of  the  British  lion  a  severe  twist,  maintaining  de- 
fiantly the  honor  and  glory  of  the  American  queue.  Who 
will  dare  to  say  after  this  that  the  billiard  tables  of  the  Fort 
Schuyler  Club  were  set  up  in  vain  ?  The  table  was  not  of 
modern  pattern,  but  a  broad,  verdant  expanse,  across  which 
Friede  could  not  be  discerned  without  a  telescope.  It  was 
aptly  compared  to  a  tennis-court,  with  marbles  for  balls.  .Ac- 
cording to  custom,  all  games  are  played  for  a  stake,  to  make 
them  interesting.  With  us,  the  hazard,  however  small,  would 
constitute  reprehensible  gambling.  We  have  some  crude  and 
erroneous  ideas,  which  are  in  gradual  progress  of  correction, 
among  intelligent  and  cultivated  persons  who  ha\e  oppor- 
tunities to  observe  the  manners  and  customs  of  other  lands. 

It  is  habitual  in  England  always  to  play  for  a  stake  of  some 
kind.    In  a  game  of  whist,  ladies  play  for  si.xpenny  or  shilling 


yo  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

counters,  in  which  they  see  no  impropriety.  Imagine  ladies 
in  the  United  States  sitting  at  a  table  and — gambling  !  Proh 
pudor  !  the  pew-door  would  come  down  on  them  with  a  ven- 
geance. Unfortunately,  boisterous  extremists  and  addle-pated 
fanatics  have  too  much  clamorous  influence  in  directing  public 
opinion  with  us.  They  drownthe  quiet  voice  of  moderation 
and  good-sense.  Great  is  pretense,  and  the  blatherskite  is  its 
prophet !  The  fanatic  sees  no  difference  of  demerit  between 
moderate  drinking  and  drunkenness  ;  and,  in  his  eyes,  playing 
for  a  small  stake,  to  enhance  the  interest  in  an  amusement,  is 
abominable  equally  with  professional  gambling,  cheating  at 
cards,  reckless  improvidence,  and  ruinous  infatuation  with  a 
vice.  His  argument  is  that  if  cards  and  dice  were  not  used, 
there  would  be  none  of  these  deplorable  evils  of  gaming. 
True,  and  so  if  there  were  no  water,  men  couldn't  commit 
suicide  by  drowning.  They  would  have  to  resort  to  some 
other  mode  of  exhibiting  insanity  ;  they  would  have  to  cut 
their  throats  or  hang  themselves.  Then  the  fanatic  would 
prohibit  ropes  and  razors. 

The  dinner  of  the  Royal  Bermuda  Yacht  Club  deserves 
more  than  passing  mention.  It  was  given  on  an  island  be- 
longing to  the  Club,  which  is  fitted  up  with  all  conveniences 
for  a  recreative  retreat.  Here  the  members  assemble  and 
enjoy  themselves  to  their  heart's  content.  As  one  of  them 
remarked,  they  are  remote  from  prying  curiosity,  and  can 
indulge  in  hilarity  without  bated  breath.  Green  turtle  be- 
came the  piece  dc  resistance.  The  noble  reptile  was  served 
in  all  the  most  approved  styles,  turtle  soup,  turtle  steak,  and 
turtle  fins,  the  latter  an  esteemed  delicacy.  We  ate  so 
much  of  these  that  we  were  unable  to  do  justice  to  other 
toothsome  viands.  But  it  is  not  an  every-day  dish  with  us. 
The  good-natured  turtle  is  not  in  the  habit  of  sprawling 
along   the    shore    of  Staten    Island,    inviting    somebody   to 


HOSPITABLE    BERMUDA.  J I 

catch  and  cat  him,  as  it  is  Iiis  benevolent  custom  in  I^or- 
muda.  The  President,  Mr.  Richard  D.  Darrell,  presided  o\er 
the  jolly  yachtsmen  with  a  graceful  tact  that  added  much  to 
the  unflagging  gayety  of  the  symposium.  The  responses  to 
numerous  toasts  were  apt  and  to  the  point ;  the  remarks  of 
the  Commodore,  Uncle  John,  and  the  Commissioner  bein;^ 
notably  pertinent  and  well-timed.  Uncle  John  responded  for 
the  Ladies,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  induce  him  to  explain 
the  hand-clasp,  for  the  use  of  the  natives  after  his  departure, 
but  it  failed.  In  these  things  he  never  gives  anything  awa\'. 
About  midnight,  we  left  this  joyous  island,  under  a  bright 
moonlight,  with  a  spanking  breeze,  in  club  yachts,  full  of 
turtle,  and  v.ith  abundant  material  for  pleasant  recollections 
of  the  Royal  ]5ermuda  Yacht  Club. 

We  drove  out  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Allen,  U.  S.  Con- 
sul, situated  on  the  ocean  side,  six  miles  from  Hamilton  ; 
a  charming  islet,  connected  with  the  main  island  b)'  a  short 
bridge  over  the  narrow  stream  that  creates  the  insular  dis- 
severance. This  might  well  be  the  spot  (it  is  somewhere  in 
Bermuda)  w'here  the  entranced  eyes  of  Ferdinand  beamed 
revealingly  upon  the  unenlightened  virgin  heart  of  Miranda 
and  quickened  it  into  loving  fruition. 

"  Thy  banks  with  pconicd  and  liHod  l:)rinis. 
Which  spungy  April  at  thy  host  bclrinis. 
To  make  cold  nymphs  chaste  crowns." 

Caliban  no  longer  resides  here,  but  a  large  monkey  ser\ed 
to  do  the  monster  business. 

We  met,  at  luncheon.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brower,  of  Utica,  and 
some  other  American  visitors,  who  had  been  invited  to  join 
us.  Mr.  Allen  has  a  taste  for  ichthyology,  and  his  aquarium 
contains  some  curious  specimens,  among  them  the  brilliant 
angel-fish.      A    curious    creature    is    the     trunk-crab,    which 


72  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

packs  up  its  claws  and  marches  off  like  a  belle  preparing  for 
a  season  at  the  sea-shore.  The  operation  of  this  shell-fish  is 
a  reminder  of  the  man  who  lifts  himself  up  by  the  waistband 
of  his  trousers.  We  went  to  the  sea-shore,  the  boundary  of 
Mr.  Allen's  property,  and  saw  the  growing  coral.  It  is  not 
of  the  valuable  variety,  like  the  pink  and  red  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, but  the  ordinary  gray  madrepore. 

Mr.  Allen  has  been  Consul  here  for  twenty-three  years, 
and  we  heard  many  expressions  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
hope  that  a  change  of  administration  would  not  effect  his  re- 
mov^al.  Those  simple  islanders  are  not  aware  that  it  is  our 
patriotic  duty  as  freemen  to  rally  on  the  colors  every  four 
years  and  try  to  turn  the  rascals  out.  The  man  who  is  out, 
inspired  by  a  lofty  sense  of  duty,  always  regards  the  man 
who  is  in  as  a  rascal.  We  haven't  succeeded  in  turning  them 
out  to  any  extent  for  the  past  twenty-five  years,  but  we  shall 
accomplish  our  disinterested  object  in  time.  Everything 
comes  to  him  who  waits,  even  though  he  waits  unwillingly. 
We  outside  patriots  are  singing,  "  There's  a  good  time  com- 
ing, boys;  wait  a  little  longer."  A  change  will  come.  The 
desire  for  a  change,  like  Hope,  springs  eternal  in  the  human 
breast.  Hope  has  fooled  us  several  times,  but  she  can't  do  it 
much  longer. 

We  dined  with  the  Mess  of  the  Eighty-fourth,  and  nothing 
could  excel  the  cordiality  with  which  we  were  received.  The 
dinner  was  excellent,  served  on  the  mess-plate  of  the  regi- 
ment, massive  and  elegant,  appropriately  inscribed,  bearing 
on  each  piece  the  regimental  crest.  It  is  customary  when  an 
officer  leaves  the  regiment,  or  is  transferred,  to  present  a 
piece  of  plate  to  the  Mess,  and  the  accumulations  of  years 
form  a  large  and  handsome  service.  In  accordance  with 
their  rule,  the  only  toast  offered  at  table  was  the  Queen, 
which  was  received  with  the  usual  antiphon,  God  bless  her  ! 


HOSPITABLE   BERMUDA.  73 

As  a  Stanch  republican,  it  is  my  duty  to  frown  on  queens 
in  the  abstract,  but  I  like  to  see  the  honest  and  loyal  enthu- 
siasm displayed  by  these  soldiers  for  their  sovereic^n,  so  I 
joined  in  heartily  and  said,  "  The  Queen,  God  bless  her  !  " 
though  she  is  not  My  Queen.      Mine  is  uncrowned. 

After  leaving  the  table,  there  was  a  social  gathering  in  the 
mess-room,  which  was  a  most  refreshing  and  profitable  sea- 
son, as  the  deacons  say  after  a  revival,  if  the  plate  "  pans 
out "  satisfactorily.  Unconstrained  soldierly,  festal  fervor 
prevailed.  A  toast  to  the  United  States  Army  was  accom- 
panied by  hearty  cheers,  and  one  of  the  guests,  who  had 
seen  a  little  service  in  the  army  while  fighting  was  going  on, 
was  called  upon  to  respond.  He  said  that  in  the  crest  of  this 
regiment  he  found  an  analogy  which  permitted  him  to  refer 
to  the  present  condition  of  our  country,  but  lately  rent  by  the 
war  for  the  Union.  It  bears  a  reminder  of  fierce  civil  con- 
flict, buried  long  ago  in  the  history  of  a  past  century,  but  the 
whilom  badges  of  antagonism  now  form  an  emblem  of  unit)', 
and  the  white  rose  of  York  and  the  Lancasterian  red  com- 
bine, in  alternate  leaves,  in  the  arms  of  the  Eighty- fourth 
Regiment,  forming,  with  the  green  laurel  that  crowns  the 
record  of  the  gallant  command,  a  rainbow  of  promise  of 
future  amity.  So  with  our  own  land,  but  a  short  time  ago 
divided  by  warring  forces.  Now,  contention  has  passed  away, 
and  the  lofty  pine  of  Maine  and  the  palmetto  of  South  Car- 
olina are  swayed  by  the  same  breeze  of  peaceful  unit}-, 
breathing  the  assurance  of  uninterrupted  harmony  among 
our  confederated  people  for  evermore. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  short  speech,  in  answer  to  a  jicr- 
sistent  call,  he  sang  the  army  song  of  "  Benny  Havens,  Oh  I  " 
the  British  officers  joining  enthusiastically  in  the  chorus, 
although  it  was  the  rebel  tune  of  "  The  Wearing  of  the 
Green." 


74 


THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 


BENNY    HAVENS,    OH! 


WRITTEN    FOR    THE    SOCIETY    OF   THE    ARMY    OF   THE   POTOMAC. 

Air — Wearing  of  the  green. 


2^2^: 


±=z.z 


Pour    forth     a       full    li- 


^1 


^^^^^1 


m 


i^ 


'^^^^^^^^^m^^^^w^^m 


ba-tion  now  To  Far-  ra  -  gut  the  brave,  The  i  -  dol    of    the   Na  -  vy  and  The 


=>  — ^_^^_.|--,_=i;n:=Sz:=s=_N — Kfzjs — 

-•> ;^ — -) — :=— fj :i-*+* • * — •—+-•' — ' ' — 


rul-  er     of  the  wave;  He's  gone  aloft,lashed  in  his  shroud,  Where  soon  we  all  must 


-m-     — '■     — -     —*-    — ^  -—J-     -m-  -m-    -—I-     -m-  -m'    '-^     "JT      * 

-%■     -m-     -W     -*-    -»-  *       •  •     -»       •  •     TT 


t^^^^ 


-J. ' 


— =:^r;i=3 


HOSPITAULE    BERMUDA. 


75 


>^ 


51^5^ 


go;    He's  wait- ing  there    to    wel-comeus    With  Ben  -  ny    Ha  -  vcns,  oh  ; 


m 


*  *  *       *  *   f        *    i=    ." 


^'r*i^-^==EZ^g£EE^; 


i?^^^^iii 


<7<ori«.». 

J,    Soprano  and  Alto.         ^ 

*r^#  I 

With  Beti-ny    Ha-vens,  oh  !    With  Ben-ny  Ha-vens,  oh  !    He's  waitins  there  to 
Tenor  and  Bass.  ^^  -•■-•--•-  {^ 


-»— 5» — ?-T 


^^E 


z ^ — 1^ — 5 — «-tS— -» — • — ^zxai^ — t 1 1 — L — U 

■»■    «■    -^    ■•■ 

wel-come  us  With  Benny  Ha-vens,  oli  ! 


!^ 


*  *      *  -r  * 


f  r 


-3.— :5. — • ' 


.«» 


das 


ii^^^f^s?; 


Beneath  his  daisy  shelter-tent, 
In  cahn  repose  Meade  hes, 

The  stars  he  wore  so  brilliantly 
Are  transferred  to  the  skies, 


']6  THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  MONTAUK. 

Where,  in  the  Army  of  the  Blest, 

For  evermore  they  glow 
Upon  a  private  in  the  ranks 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Chorus. 


We'll  cherish  in  our  memory  green, 

The  gallant  Sedgwick's  name, 
He  lay  down  in  a  mantle  of 

Imperishable  fame, 
To  waken  when  the  Reveille 

Shall  summon  friend  and  foe 
To  everlasting  brotherhood 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Chorus. 


With  wreath  of  immortelle,  the  grave 

Of  Sumner's  fitly  crowned, 
As  through  the  echoing  halls  of  time 

His  glories  still  resound  ; 
The  page  of  truthful  history 

Fresh  honors  will  bestow; 
He'll,  hand  in  hand,  by  Reynolds  stand 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Chorus. 


At  Burnsidc's  bier  we  drop  a  tear 

For  soldier  sunk  to  rest ; 
A  knightly  soul  has  reached  its  goal 

'Neath  Hooker's  honored  crest ; 
In  warlike  lays,  we'll  chant  the  praise 

Of  trusty  Fighting  Joe, 
Until  the  day  we  serve  for  aye 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Chorus. 


HOSPITABLE    BERMLDA.  'J'] 

Upon  tlic  James,  the  Rapidan, 

And  Rappahannock's  shore, 
We  lost  heroic  soldier  friends, 

On  earth  to  meet  no  more  ; 
But  when  the  angel  trumpet  shall 

The  last  Asseml^ly  blow, 
We'll  find  them  in  the  shining  host 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

CJioriis. 


Mid  ghostly  wails,  the  cypress  trails 

Dark  plumes  on  Malvern's  height, 
With  plaintive  thrill,  the  whippoorwill 

Pipes  for  a  spectral  fight ; 
See  Morn  advance,  with  radiant  lance 

And  Chanticleer's  bold  crow, 
Back  to  the  sky  the  shadows  fly 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Chorus. 


While  gathered  at  the  festive  board, 

Will  yet  remembered  be 
The  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 

And  of  the  Tennessee  ; 
The  broad  Potomac  with  their  flood 

Unites  in  loving  flow — 
A  mighty  tide  of  comradeship 

With  Picnny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

CJl07-}l5. 


The  summer  wind  sighs  softly  through 

Atlanta's  lovely  vale. 
A  fragrant  hymn  of  requiem, 

McPhcrson  to  bewail  ; 


78  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

O'er  Thomas,  on  Mount  Ida's  slope, 

Sweet  roses  incense  throw  ; 

Deep  in  our  hearts  are  both  enshrined 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Cliorus. 


Down  under  battle-mounds  that  fleck 

Fair  tields  with  ghastly  green,  . 
The  busy  worm,  on  tireless  loom. 

Weaves,  in  celestial  sheen, 
From  warp  of  blue  and  woof  of  gray, 

Robes  white  as  driven  snow  ; 
The  uniform  for  Judgment  Day 

Of  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 

Chorus. 


When  life's  campaign  is  at  an  end. 

And  we  are  mustered  out. 
The  Yankee  cheer  and  Rebel  yell 

Will  mingle  in  one  shout ; 
We'll  greet  our  late  antagonists. 

And  then  no  more  shall  know. 
Nor  Union  nor  Confederate 

With  Benny  Havens,  Oh  ! 


Chorus. 


For  our  noble  first  commander, 

We  crush  a  cup  of  wine, 
To  sprinkle  on  the  laurels  bright 

That  round  his  deeds  entwine ; 
To  the  well-beloved  chieftain 

Let  bumpers  overflow, 
May  he  live  long  to  sing  the  song 

Of  Benny  Havens,  Oh! 

Chorus. 


HOSPITABLE   BERMUDA.  79 

Among  the  songs  sung  was  one  by  Major  Santi,  Deputy 
Commissary-General  i^to  the  accompaniment  of  his  L;uitar, 
touched  with  much  taste  and  expression),  which  struck  me  as 
being  a  really  clever  "  skit,"  showing  the  impatience  of  the 
loving  nephew  waiting  for  his  inheritance.  It  was  a  tra\'- 
esty  on  Moore's  well-known  lines  from  the  "  Fire  Worship- 
ers," and  as  I  had  never  seen  it  in  print,  Major  Santi  was 
good  enough  to  give  me  a  copy. 

UXCLE   JOHN. 

I  never  loved  a  young  gazelle, 

Because  as  how  I  never  tried, 
And  if  I  had,  I  know  full  well 

The  poor  young  creature  would  have  died. 
My  old  and  wealthy  Uncle  John, 

I've  known  him  long,  I've  lOved  him  well, 
But  still  he  will  go  living  on  — 

I  wish  he  were  a  young  gazelle. 

I  never  had  tree,  fruit,  or  flower. 

But  if  I  had,  without  a  doubt. 
Some  cruel  frost,  or  wind,  or  shower 

Would  just  have  come  and  snuffed  them  out. 
I've  dearly  loved  my  Uncle  John, 

From  childhood  to  the  present  hour, 
But  still  he  will  go  living  on — 

I  wish  he  were  tree,  fruit,  or  flower. 

I've  often  heard  that  death  destroys 

Whilst  still  they're  innocent  and  young, 
The  good,  the  nice,  pure  little  boys, 

And  spares  the  biggest  rogues  unhung  ; 
Whene'er  I  sec  my  Uncle  John 

This  solemn  thought  occurs  to  me, 
As  Uncle  John  goes  living  on — 

How  wicked  Uncle  John  must  be  ! 


8o  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

We  were  loath  to  part  with  our  agreeable  hosts  when  the 
time  came,  and,  at  their  earnest  solicitation,  we  deferred  our 
retirement  until  an  hour  when  those  who  go  to  bed  early 
were  taking  their  second  nap.  I  will  confess  that  during  this 
symposium  the  hatred  of  "  England's  cruel  red,"  which  ought 
to  burn  fiercely  in  my  Celtic  breast,  was  but  a  puny  and  lag- 
gard flame.  But  it  will  revive  when  I  return,  and  listen  to  a 
speech  or  two  from  my  friend  the  State  Senator,  calculated  to 
fire  the  Hibernian  heart. 

Long,  long  ago,  I  read  Johnson's  "  Rasselas."  It  was  so 
long  ago  that  I  have  forgotten  what  it  was  about,  the  story 
having  been  crowded  out  of  my  mind  by  the  light  literature 
of  this  period — census  reports,  health  statistics,  the  Congres- 
sional Globe,  and  such  entertaining  reading  matter — but  I  re- 
member that  there  was  a  happy  valley  in  it ;  and  so  there  is 
in  Bermuda.  General  Hastings,  a  gallant  officer  from  Ohio, 
in  our  army,  was  badly  wounded  at  Winchester,  fighting  under 
Sheridan.  He  suffered  severely  for  many  years,  a  rifle-ball 
remaining  in  his  leg  until  quite  recently.  He  tried  wintering 
in  various  places,  but  found  none  that  agreed  with  him  so 
well  as  Bermuda.  He  has  spent  the  winters  here  for  six 
years  past,  and  has  become  the  owner  of  extensive  property, 
advantageously  situated  on  the  sea-shore,  his  handsome  resi- 
dence, looking  like  a  marble  front,  standing  on  a  command- 
ing eminence  a  short  distance  inland.  Here,  not  far  from 
the  house,  is  Cameron  Valley,  where  nestle  his  extensive  lily- 
beds,  divided  into  five  plantations  by  hedges  of  oleanders, 
which  serve  the  double  purpose  of  marking  boundaries  and 
sheltering  the  fragile  flowers  from  blighting  winds.  The  beds 
are  in  progressive  stages  of  development ;  from  the  spherical 
bulb  imprisoning  the  corolla,  and  the  partially  unfolded 
calyx  —  a  dress  of  green  with  white  trimmings — to  the  sil- 
very   blossom,  with    graceful    outspreading    leaves,  guarding 


HOSriTAHLE   BERMUDA.  8  I 

the  golden  stamen.  The  bed  containing  the  dc\clopcd  flow- 
ers looked  as  if  covered  with  a  quilt  of  pearly  whiteness,  on 
which  deft  fingers  had  embroidered  dainty  designs  of  lucent 
splendor,  in  bewildering  repetition  of  exuberant  beautx'. 

General  Hastings'  success  in  his  first  eftorts  to  cultivate 
this  Easter-lily  encouraged  him  to  engage  in  wholesale  pro- 
duction, and  he  now  sends  large  quantities  of  bulbs  U)  Xew 
York,  England,  and  Holland,  where  they  find  a  read)-  mar- 
ket. This  year  he  expects  to  raise  300,000  lilies.  His  lame- 
ness prevented  him  from  going  with  us,  so  ^Irs.  Hastings, 
accompanied  b}'  a  young  iVmcrican  lady,  her  visitor,  acted 
as  our  fitting  guide  to  this  fairy  lil\--\-ale.  With  her  own 
hands,  she  gathered  a  large  quantity  of  lilies,  which  were 
used  in  the  decoration  of  the  Montauk  for  the  reception  next 
day,  and,  although  on  that  occasion  the  saloon  was  actually 
smothered  in  flowers,  the  lih'  was  given  the  place  of  honor, 
and  every  one  who  entered  saluted  a  single  lily  placed  above 
the  door. 

Commodore  Piatt  gave  an  At  Home  on  the  Montauk 
the  second  day  before  sailing.  Miss  Gallwe}',  Miss  Hurst, 
Mrs.  Brower,  and  others  sent  aboard  flowers  in  great  abun- 
dance, and  these,  su[)plenienting  the  lilies,  gave  the  saloon  of 
the  yacht  the  sembhuice  of  a  bower.  Indeed  we  ga\e  it  the 
name  "Lily  Bower,"  which  it  will  retain  during  the  \-o\aL;e 
at  least.  Colonel  Simpson,  of  the  84th,  kiiull}-  sent  the  Reg- 
imental Band  to  play  on  deck,  and  all  the  acccssiuics  of  a  re- 
ception were  present,  including  a  bountiful  supph'  of  suit- 
able refreshments.  There  was  a  general  accejjtance  of  the 
invitations  sent  out,  and  the  guests  numbered  several  hundred, 
among  them  many  I^ritish  army  and  na\y  officers  with  their 
families,  and  numerous  American  visitors.  The  guests  were 
brought  aboard  on  a  steam-tug,  and  the  manner  in  which 
Uncle  John  did  the  honors  in  transit  was  the  theme  ot  feeling 
6 


82  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

comment.  The  Uncle  John  hand-clasp  will  long  survive  in 
fair  Bermudian  minds,  a  cherished  tradition  of  an  inimitable 
manifestation  of  chivalrous  gallantry,  administered  gently, 
with  delicate  tenderness  and  courteous  deference.  The  hand- 
somely-dressed ladies,  interspersed  with  gentlemen  in  parti- 
Colored  costumes,  relieved  by  the  bright  mass  of  red-coated 
musicians  stationed  on  the  forward  deck,  made  it  a  pic- 
turesque subject  for  the  photographer,  who  took  a  view 
which  I  send  you.  The  At  Home  proved  to  be  a  distin- 
guished success,  comparing  advantageously,  I  am  told,  with 
a  similar  reception  given  by  Lady  Brassey  aboard  the  Sun- 
beam. 

Even  were  I  unmindful  of  the  old  adage  about  the  odious- 
ness  of  comparison,  I  would  be  at  a  loss  did  I  venture  to 
make  an  estimate  of  the  relative  attractiveness  of  the  ladies 
of  the  several  nationalities  who  honored  us  with  their  pres- 
ence. While  our  own  fair  countrywomen  are  always  entitled 
to  first  place,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  English  and 
Bermudian  ladies  were  worthy  rivals,  and  some  of  them  even 
showed  claims  to  precedence  worthy  of  consideration.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  we  were  not  in  Utica  ; 
there,  rivalry  would  have  been  hopeless. 

The  great  event  of  modern  times  in  Bermuda  was  the  visit, 
last  year,  of  H.  R.  H.  the  Princess  Louise.  It  forms  a  theme 
of  constant  consideration,  and  the  'Mudians  roll  the  oft-re- 
peated recital  of  incidents  under  their  loyal  tongues  with 
great  relish.  The  calabash  tree  of  Tom  Moore,  beneath 
which  he  wrote  many  verses  when  he  was  a  public  function- 
ary here,  has  withered  into  insignificance  since  the  royal  ad- 
vent. The  place  where  the  Princess  landed  is  held  as  hal- 
lowed ground,  and  the  Island  has  become  a  sort  of  sacred 
soil — it  is  the  Insula  Sanctorum  of  the  West.  The  amiability 
and  gracious  manners  of  the  Princess  won  the  hearts  of  her 


HOSPITABLE   BERMUDA.  83 

subjects,  and  she  is  entitled,  bc\ond  question,  to  the  un- 
stinted praise  bestowed  upon  her. 

It  has  just  occurred  to  me  that  my  letter  is  getting  lon;^, 
and  there  is  a  sameness  about  its  tone  which  will  make  it 
tedious.  It  is  a  rambling  sort  of  a  thing,  with  too  much  of 
the  personal  in  it  perhaps,  but  I  could  not  repress  the  feel- 
ings which  prompt  this  expression  of  grateful  recognition  of 
Bermudian  hospitality  and  courtesy.  The  climate  of  Ber- 
muda is  one  of  the  best  in  w^inter  ;  still,  I  could  find  lands 
with  much  greater  physical  attractions.  But  as  a  frank,  hon- 
est, genial,  hospitable  people,  well-educated,  cultured  and  re- 
fined, it  would  be  difficult  to  find  the  superior  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  island,  comparatively  isolated  from  the  great 
world  of  fashion. 

Up  to  the  28th  of  February,  Anno  Domini,  1884,  the 
great  event  of  Bermuda  had  been  the  visit  of  the  Princess 
Louise.  Since  that  day  I  doubt  whether  the  visit  will  main- 
tain its  super-eminence.  To  suggest  how  it  was  supple- 
mented by  a  greater  event  would  test  our  modest)-  of  pre- 
tension. But  up  to  that  red-letter  day,  the  hand-clasp  of 
Uncle  John  was  unknown  in  Bermuda. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

AT   SEA. 

A  Frustrated  Conspiracy — Getting  Awaj — A  Tortuous  Channel — De- 
scription of  Yacht — A  Lazy  Life — Lounging  Occupation — Cloud 
Scenery — Amusements — Sartorial — Pills — Detergent. 

On  Board  Montauk,  at  Sea, 
March  12,  1884,  Lat.  24'  32°  N.,  Long.  59'  59°  W. 

With  firm  resolution  and  unbending  will  to  enforce  it,  we 
are  enabled  to  overcome  the  temptations  that  beset  our  path 
through  life.  The  difficulty  is  in  the  application  of  it,  as 
Captain  Cuttle,  Catlin,  or  some  other  sage  and  philosopher, 
wisely  remarked  concerning  the  efficient  administration  of  a 
mustard-plaster,  the  unsparing  rod  that  keeps  the  child  from 
spoiling,  a  city  government,  or  something  of  that  sort.  We 
managed,  at  last,  to  escape  from  Bermuda  (although  you 
haven't  escaped  yet,  as  you  see  I  persist  in  writing  about  it), 
eluding  the  tenacious  grasp  of  persistent  friendly  ministra- 
tions ;  and  it  was  not  easily  shaken,  you  may  be  sure.  We 
escaped,  despite  the  job  put  up  to  detain  the  Commodore,  on 
a  trumped-up  charge  for  some  fancied  violations  of  non-exist- 
ent harbor  laws,  alleged,  on  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Boyle,  the 
genial  and  clever  Colonial  Secretary,  papers  being  prepared 
in  due  form,  imposingly  endorsed  "  On  Her  Majesty's  Ser- 
vice." We  even  evaded  the  vigilance  of  the  police  force, 
which  has  been  greatly  augmented  recently  on  account  of  the 
Fenian  scare.  Including  the  chief  and  assistant,  it  is  now  a 
formidable  and  awe-inspiring  body  of  three  full-grown  men. 


AT   SEA.  85 

To  escape  required  a  great  effort  of  will-power  ;  as  the  mes- 
merist .said  to  the  Brevet  Corporal  when  he  tried  to  persuade 
him  that  an  experimental  half-dollar,  which  he  placed  in  his 
hand  illustratively,  was  red  hot,  which  Bob  didn't  feci,  an<l 
thus  retained  and  pocketed  the  coin.  I  have  read  somewhere 
of  a  bailiff  who  boarded  a  vessel  to  libel  it,  and  was  carried  off 
to  sea,  papers  and  all  ;  and  so  with  us.  The  Commodore  ac- 
cepted service  of  the  generous  effort  to  detain  him,  and  then 
sailed  away,  carrying  the  futile  writ  of  Jic  exeat ,  to  be  pre- 
served among  the  agreeable  recollections  of  our  visit  as  the 
only  abortive  effort  of  Bermudian  hospitality. 

Shortly  after  noon,  then,  on  March  8th,  we  weighed  an- 
chor in  Hamilton  Harbor,  hoisted  sail,  saluted  the  colors  of 
the  Royal  Bermuda  Yacht  Club  (accompanying  the  salute 
with  cheers,  which  came  back  stoutly  re-echoed  from  the 
balcony  of  the  Club  House),  and  so,  regretfullj',  left  Bermuda. 
We  sailed  away  in  fine  style.  It  was  a  cloudless  day,  and 
the  wind,  though  light,  was  in  the  right  quarter  for  a  faxor- 
able  "  slant,"  with  the  Hamilton  shore  to  leeward,  gi\'ing 
the  spectators  assembled  to  see  us  off  a  fine  view  of  the 
graceful  vessel,  as  she  swept  by  in  conscious  strength  and 
beauty.  Scarcely  was  the  anchor  hoisted  to  her  bow.  when 
she  moved  off  as  if,  instead  of  lying  idle  in  port  for  ten  days, 
with  her  sails  furled,  she  had  kept  them  filled  with  wind, 
stowed  away,  canned,  as  it  were,  ready  to  start  at  the  word 
go.  She  might  be  compared  to  a  dog  that  had  been  lying 
down,  rising,  turning  half  around,  and  then  starting  off  briskly 
on  a  trot.  We  saluted  the  American  Hag  with  the  prescribed 
honors  while  passing  the  office  of  the  U.  S.  Consul.  Cap- 
tain Chase  accompanied  us,  with  Mr.  Trimmingham,  Rear 
Commodore  of  the  Bermuda  Club,  and  a  son  of  Mi".  Richard 
Darrell,  a  genuine  young  sea-dog,  who  can  sail  his  dingey 
with     the     best  of    them,    and   "take   a  swim" — which     is 


86  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

the  'Mudian  euphemism  for  sinking  one  of  these  phicky 
Httle  boats  in  a  race — without  a  growl.  We  were  guided 
out  by  black  Peter  Smith,  the  same  pilot  who  brought  us  in. 
Being  a  pilot,  and  a  black  Peter,  he  is  probably  connected 
with  blue-peter,  the  flag  raised  when  a  vessel  is  about  to  sail. 
At  any  rate,  he  is  an  old-salt  Peter.  No  doubt,  too,  he  is  re- 
lated to  the  Smith  family.  I  judge  so  from  his  name.  He 
quit  us  at  St.  George's,  receiving  a  handsome  gratuity,  in 
addition  to  the  "  ten  bob  "  given  him  for  conveying  ashore 
the  gentlemen  who  accompanied  us  thus  far.  Sailing  through 
it  again,  we  were  enabled  to  appreciate  more  fully  how  nar- 
row and  crooked  is  the  channel  that  leads  to  Hamilton  harbor 
of  safety.  It  doesn't  carry  out  the  scriptural  simile.  It  is 
narrow,  but  not  straight — a  sort  of  half-and-half — like  some 
professors  of  religion.  We  had  expected  to  take  a  tugboat 
to  tow  us  out,  but  managed  to  get  along  without  one  ;  for  to 
sail  both  in  and  out  the  harbor  unaided  was  a  feather  in  the 
cap  of  the  already  profusely-beplumed  Montauk. 

Perhaps  you  may  be  interested  in  the  description  of  the 
vessel  in  which  we  are  cruising  to  West  Indies  and  the  Span- 
ish Main  ;  in  a  jog-trot,  humdrum  sort  of  way,  so  unadventu- 
rous  as  hardly  to  afford  matter  for  a  readable  letter  ;  always 
saving  and  excepting  the  violent  gales  heretofore  mentioned, 
which  were  not  entirely  devoid  of  interest  to  those  who  were 
staring  in  the  face  an  impending  possibility  of  satisfying,  by 
personal  observation,  any  curiosity  they  might  have  regard- 
ing the  contents  of  the  locker  down  below. 

The  Montauk  is  a  schooner  yacht  of  87.52  tons,  Custom 
House  register,  but  200  tons  carpenter's  measurement.  She 
is  a  centre-board  vessel,  having  under  her,  amidships,  what  is 
called  a  centre-board,  which  may  be  lowered  or  raised  at  will 
from  the  deck.  The  English  call  it  a  false-keel.  When  sail- 
ing before  the  wind  it  is  raised,  but  when   close-hauled   it  is 


AT   SEA.  87 

let  down  to  the  full  extent,  thus  affording  a  resistant  power 
which  keeps  the  vessel  steady  and  up  to  her  work.  The 
draught  of  water,  without  the  board,  is  nine  feet,  with  the  full 
board  down,  twenty-one  feet.  There  is  great  difference  of 
opinion  among  yachtsmen  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  keel 
and  centre-board,  the  English  having  no  faith  in  the  board, 
while  Americans  are  divided  in  their  views.  The  main  ob- 
jection advanced  to  the  centre-board  craft  is  that  she  is  not 
well  adapted  to  meet  heavy  weather  at  sea,  but  the  proof  of 
the  pudding  is  in  the  eating,  and  the  rvlcntauk,  wdiich  is  a 
representative  boat  of  her  kind,  has  not  only  done  the  fastest 
sailing  in  races,  but,  during  the  first  week  of  this  voyage,  has 
demonstrated  her  stanch,  sea-worthy  qualities  in  the  se\"er- 
est  tests.  During  the  strong  gales  experienced  in  the  Gulf 
Stream  slie  never  shipped  a  green  sea. 

The  Montauk  is  104  feet  long,  25  jj  feet  beam  in  the  wid- 
est part  amidships,  sharp  forward,  and  with  a  clean  run  aft. 
Her  mainmast  is  104  feet  from  deck  to  truck.  The  deck  is 
four  feet  above  water-line,  and  bulwarks  eighteen  inches  over 
the  deck,  thus  making  the  rail  5^<  feet  above  the  water. 

The  saloon  is  18  feet  b}'  12,  clear  of  berths.  The  owner's 
room,  about  amidships  on  the  starboard  side,  is  luxuriously 
fitted  up,  with  a  wide  bed  and  all  appropriate  adjuncts.  Off 
his  room  is  the  bath-room,  where  one  may  bathe  either  in 
salt  or  fresh  water,  the  salt  water  running  in  from  the  sea, 
through  a  faucet  beneath  the  water-line.  On  the  oppcjsitc, 
or  port,  side,  is  another  state-room  of  smaller  size  ;  and  the 
sailingmaster's  quarters,  a  wash-room,  and  steward's  pantry. 
There  are  also  two  state-rooms  in  the  quarter  aft,  opening 
from  the  companion-way.  The  saloon  contains  four  commo- 
dious berths.  I'orward  of  the  steward's  pantry  is  the  cook's 
galley,  and  beyond  that,  a  light  and  comfortable  forecastle  for 
the  sailors'  occupancy. 


88  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

The  saloon  is  finished  in  solid  mahogany,  carved,  except 
the  ceilings,  which  are  white,  picked  out  with  gold,  the 
panels  being  exquisitely  wrought  in  minute  circles,  applied 
with  a  delicate  camel's  hair  brush,  producing  the  effect  of  a 
flash  of  gold.  The  mast-case  has  carved  on  it  a  leviathan, 
with  the  first  verse  of  the  forty-first  chapter  of  Job  :  "  Canst 
thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  an  hook  ?  or  his  tongue  with  a 
cord  which  thou  lettest  down  ? "  Flanking  this  case,  are 
shelves  filled  with  books.  Side-boards  of  handsome  carved 
mahogany  are  in  the  corners.  The  hangings  are  of  heavy 
Japanese  silk,  embroidered  with  the  leviathan  design.  Chairs 
and  sofas  are  covered  with  silk  seal-plush  containing  the 
yacht  monogram.  The  chandelier  consists  of  three  massive 
bronze  lamps,  suspended  beneath  the  skylight  from  the 
mouth  of  a  figure  representing  a  dolphin.  Silver,  cut-glass- 
ware and  china  are  all  marked  with  the  name  Montauk,  as 
is  the  linen  of  every  kind.  There  are  capacious  lockers 
everywhere  for  stowage.  Electric-bells,  communicating  with 
the  steward's  pantry,  are  in  each  state-room  and  saloon-berth. 
There  is  also  an  electric-bell  on  the  quarter-deck.  The 
deck-fittings,  hatches,  coamings  and  skyligjits  are  solid  ma- 
hogany, the  side-gratings  and  stanchions,  polished  brass. 
She  Carries  two  boats,  the  Commodore's  four-oared  gig, 
twenty-four  feet  long,  and  a  large  cutter.  The  Montauk  was 
launched  in  May,  1882  ;  won  the  Bennett  challenge  cup  in 
the  New  York  Club  regatta  the  next  month,  and  the  prize  of 
her  class  ;  and  in  the  following  August  won  the  Goelet 
$1,000  prize,  over  the  Newport  course,  and  won  it  again  the 
next  year.  She  has  made  the  fastest  time  ever  made  over 
the  New  York  Yacht  Club  course. 

We  lead  a  very  lazy  life  aboard  the  yacht.  This  is  about 
the  routine  :  We  turn  out  (you  mustn't  say  get  out  of  bed  at 
sea)  about  eight  o'clock — eight  bells  ;  then  go   on  deck,  or 


AT   SEA.  89 

rather  poke  our  heads  out  of  the  companion-way  (the  stair- 
case leading  to  the  quarter-deck),  and  survey  the  situation, 
having,  perhaps,  a  Httle  chat  with  the  quartermaster  at  the 
u-heel.  We  are  robed  totit  d'line  tcnuc,  and  it  is  pleasant  to 
be  able  to  dawdle  around  so  extensively  deshabille,  without 
being  frost-bitten,  in  the  month  of  March.  After  lounging  a 
while,  we  eat  some  fruit,  or  drink  a  bottle  of  Congress-water. 
and  munch  a  crust  of  bread,  with  a  cup  of  coffee.  Some, 
following  the  health-giving  example  of  our  robust  forefathers, 
take  an  appetizer,  but  this  is  optional,  though  usual.  There 
is  no  compulsion  about  it,  but  you  must.  It  is  like  the  com- 
plaint of  the  British  sailor  when  asked  if  attendance  at  prajcr 
was  compulsory  in  the  navy.  "Oh,  no,"  said  he,  "  }ou 
needn't  go  ;  but  if  you  doesn't,  they  stops  }our  grog."  W'c 
breakfast  at  ten,  and,  if  so  inclined,  take  a  biscuit  and  bottle 
of  beer,  or  a  glass  of  wine,  at  two  o'clock.  Dinner  is  ser\cd 
at  half-past  six  ;  and  then  on  deck  for  a  smoke,  remaining 
until  we  turn  in,  about  eleven,  except  on  moonlight  nights, 
when  midnight  finds  us  still  on  deck,  reveling  in  the  glories 
of  that  solemn  and  tender  time. 

Interspersed  in  this  programme  arc  games  of  dominos  and 
backgammon,  with  some  reading,  little  writing,  much  smok- 
ing, and  unlimited  "  chaffing,"  in  which  Uncle  John  is  fore- 
most, an  adept  in  every  pastime,  as  he  is  in  the  useful  arts. 
I  have  been  discomfited  by  him  at  dominos.  Ikit  back- 
gammon hath  its  victories  no  less  renowned  than  dominos, 
as  I  have  learned  in  some  encounters  with  the  Commodore, 
from  which  I  retired  crowned  with  the  laurels  of  defeat.  Hut 
I  have  challenged  these  victors  to  a  game  in  which  I  am  an 
expert,  although  I  have  never  played  it ;  I  have  loudK'  asserted 
my  superiority,  and  challenged  them  to  play  lawn  tennis 
aboard  the  yacht.  There  is  where  I  have  them.  I  even  in- 
sinuate that  the  reason  there  is  no  lawn-tennis  set  in  the  ship's 


90  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MOXTAUK. 

Stores  (there  is  everything  else)  is  that  they  are  afraid  to  play 
with  me,  and  afford  me  an  opportunity  to  display  my  won- 
derful skill,  I  haven't  ventured  to  set  up  a  similar  claim  in 
regard  to  the  manly  and  clerical  game  of  croquet.  I  feared 
that  I  might  be  covered  with  confusion  by  the  exposure  of 
my  unfounded  pretension  to  skill  in  this  game  likewise.  I 
distrusted  the  inexhaustible  resources  of  the  great  Domino- 
can.  I  feared  that  if  I  claimed  to  be  able  to  play  the  game, 
Uncle  John  would  bring  me  to  grief  by  finding  somewhere  in 
his  kit  a  croquet-set. 

A  finer  sail  than  our  run  from  Bermuda  thus  far  it  would 
be  hard  to  experience.  True,  we  meet  some  head-winds, 
which  compel  us  to  take  a  circuitous  course,  thus  prolonging 
the  voyage,  but  to-morrow  or  the  next  day  we  shall  strike 
the  trade-winds,  and  after  that  there  will  be  easy  sailing  to 
St.  Kitt's.  Then  we  have  no  schedule  time  ;  no  impatient 
passengers  to  grumble  ;  we  carry  no  mails,  nor  females  (old 
joke)  to  get  seasick  ;  our  cargo  will  not  spoil  ;  we  have  an 
ample  supply  of  water,  and  can  only  get  short  in  case  of  ac- 
cident preventing  us  from  making  a  harbor. 

The  weather  is  delightful  ;  the  sun  shining  brightly,  save 
when  he  passes  for  a  moment  behind  the  numerous  detached 
clouds  that  swarm  in  fragmentary,  fantastic  shapes,  sailing 
with  Proteus  in  his  flittering  galiot  through  realms  of  ethereal 
space.  Reclining,  shirt-sleeved,  in  comfortable  extension- 
chairs  on  the  quarter-deck,  lulled  by  the  rippling  water  gurg- 
ling melodiously  along  the  sides,  as  if  responding  with  cheer- 
ful welcome  to  the  salutation  of  the  entering  prow — the 
salt-scented  breeze  tempering  with  invigorating  infusion  the 
sensuous  tropical  breath  that  comes  from  the  torrid  vSouth,  la- 
den with  fragrant  anticipation  of  gorgeous  flowers  and  luscious 
fruits — is  the  perfection  of  luxurious  indolence.  Nor  does  it 
ever  become  monotonous.     One  never  wearies  of  looking  at 


AT   SEA.  91 

the  waves  as  they  rush  swiftly  by,  irradiating,  danciiic^  in 
foamy  swirls,  or  racing  up  in  laughing  undulations  in  our  wake 
as  if  to  catch  on  ;  just  touching  the  rudder,  and  then  reced- 
ing playfully,  gathering  force  for  another  effort  to  reach  the 
deck.  This,  however,  they  are  unable  to  seize  on,  for  we 
never  ship  seas  on  this  craft.  Forgive  the  execrable  pun.  It 
is  not  mine.      I  cannot  tell  a  lie.      "1  is  Uncle  John's. 

Then  there  is  constant  occupation,  watching  the  shifting 
cloud-transformation  scenery ;  pointing  out  to  each  other 
the  familiar,  fanciful,  and  weird  shapes  the\'  assume.  There 
are  Hamlet's  camel,  weasel,  and  whale,  of  course  ;  but  we  see 
many  other  things  "  too  numerous  to  mention,"  like  the 
diseases  that  succumb  to  James'  pills.  We  see  trees,  fruits, 
and  flowers  ;  oaks,  elms,  maples,  sunflowers,  hollyhocks ; 
haystacks,  corn-fields,  mowing-machines,  pug-dogs,  ducks, 
game-cocks,  wine-glasses,  pulpits,  hobby-horses,  bonnets, 
bicycles,  coffins,  spinning-wheels,  punch-bowls,  lobsters, 
tally-ho  coaches,  altars,  pianos,  frying-pans,  Brookh-n  bridge, 
combs,  "  the  herald  Mercury  new  lighted  on  a  hca\en-kiss- 
ing  hill,"  detergent,  hurricanes,  lunatic-as\-lums,  walking- 
sticks,  cucumbers,  cradles,  waterfalls,  gripsacks,  village-carts, 
church-steeples,  cranks,  black-silk  stockings,  Irving  Cliff, 
Juliet  in  the  moonlight,  ballot-boxes,  battle-flags,  stock-in- 
dicators, pitchforks,  hop-poles,  alligators,  cigars,  swords, 
wash-tubs,  locomotives,  hand-organs,  the  baby  elephant,  old 
women  sweeping  the  sky  ;  and  a  broad  unfolded  page  of 
heraldic  emblazonments — lions,  tigers,  bears,  griffms,  castles, 
swords,  shields,  harps,  scallop-shells  ;  with  angelic  shajies 
and  horrent  forms  ;  fair  maidens,  dudes,  monsters  ;  con- 
formations graceful  and  grotesque;  "  Gorgons  and  lU'dras, 
and  chimeras  dire." 

Uncle  John  thought  he  could  trace,  in  fleecy  elusiveness, 
the  lineaments  of  a  man  who   owed   him  a  thousand  dollars, 


92  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

but  the  face  was  behind  a  cloud  ;  where  it  is  apt  to  remain, 
as  Uncle  John  doubts  if  he  will  ever  see  that  thousand  dollars 
again. 

There  is  other  employment  of  time.  Looking  at  the 
clock  in  the  companion-way ;  noting  the  changes  in  the 
barometer,  whether  the  glass  sets  fair,  or  indicates  a  coming 
storm  ;  prognosticating  the  weather  from  wind  and  cloud  in- 
dications ;  comparing  pocket-compasses  with  the  binnacle 
and  remarking  "how  does  she  head  ?  "  guessing  how  many 
knots  she  is  making,  and  viewing  the  patent-log  to  decide 
bets  on  speed  ;  watching  the  flying-fish  skim  along  between 
wind  and  water,  and  arguing  a  philological  point  as  to 
whether  they  should  be  described  as  "  flocks  "  or  "  schools  ;  " 
wondering  how  many  miniature  Crustacea  are  stow-aways  on 
the  floating  gulf-weed  ;  observing  how  the  sun  sets,  whether 
clear,  promising  fair  weather,  or,  ominously,  in  a  bank  of 
clouds,  like  a  deluded  depositor  ;  then  going  below  occasion- 
ally to  drill  in  seamanship,  which  consists  in  practicing  an 
operation  that  may  be  performed  with  a  variety  of  materials 
in  different  ways.  The  method  is  easily  acquired  by  lands- 
men, who  have  a  similar  process  on  shore.  At  sea  it  is 
called  "  splicing  the  main-brace."  It  has  divers  designations 
ashore,  regulated  by  the  dialectical  usages  of  the  community. 
In  the  Carlton  Island  Club,  which  is  a  sea-going  organization, 
it  is  called  by  the  saline  navigators,  in  their  dry,  sententious 
sailor  phrase — "  hoisting." 

When  we  feel  like  taking  a  watch  below,  we  have  other 
sources  of  amusement.  There  is  reading,  for  example,  with 
a  handsome  library  of  well-selected  books  to  choose  from — 
which  nobody  reads.  We  have  no  time  for  such  nonsense. 
There  are  no  daily  papers  delivered  aboard  ship,  and  the 
great  American  people  has  fallen  into  the  habit  of  reading 
nothing  but  newspapers.    The  reason,  no  doubt,  is  that  we  are 


AT   SEA.  93 

devoted  seekers  after  truth,  and  where  can  it  be  found  in  such 
immaculateness  as  in  the  cohimns  of  a  pohtical  newspaper  ? 
It  is  said  that  truth  may  be  found  in  the  bottom  of  a  well, 
but  few  journalists  take  the  trouble  to  get  down  there.  Per- 
haps it  is  owing  to  their  aversion  to  water.  Still  they  are 
always  talking  about  getting  at  the  bottom  facts. 

We  sometimes  play  cards,  euchre  being  the  favorite  game  ; 
for,  strange  to  say,  there  are  on  board  four  Americans, 
neither  of  whom  plays  poker  or  chews  tobacco.  Yet  they 
arc  reasonably  patriotic,  and  love  their  country — when  it 
doesn't  cost  anything.  Backgammon — "  three  hits  or  a  gam- 
mon to  see  who  shall  bu)'  the  lemonade,"  i.e.,  undertake  the 
exhausting  labor  of  touching  an  electric-bell  to  summon  the 
steward — is  another  favorite  ;  but  the  great  game,  the  i/iag- 
nus  opus  of  Uncle  John,  is  dominos. 

Here  he  comes  to  the  front  as  an  invincible  champion 
who  unhorses  all  opponents.  He  is  a  brave  man  indeed  who 
ventures  to  tackle  the  great  American  dominost,  with  the  cer- 
tainty of  defeat  staring  him  in  the  face.  My  presumption  in 
this  regard  was  justly  punished  by  oft-repeated  castigations, 
for  I  am  one  of  those  obtuse  persons  who  doesn't  always 
know  when  he  is  whijiped.  Among  his  versatile  accomplish- 
ments, there  is  none  in  which  Uncle  John  stands  so  pre-em- 
inent, unconquered  and  unconquerable,  as  in  his  masterful 
handling  of  the  ivories.  He  has  justly  earned  the  title  he 
wears  with  proud  satisfaction,  Old  Double-Six.  It  is  a  matter 
of  regret  to  me  that  Uncle  John  never  encountered  the  re- 
nowned triumvirate,  Barnum,  Hinman  and  McOuade,  in  the 
days  when  they  ruled  Utica  with  a  strong  hand,  devoting 
patient  hours  to  closing  their  columns  of  oblong  pieces,  de- 
ploying, forming  square,  and  blocking  out  the  doubles.  He 
would  have  found  in  them  foemen  worthy  of  his  steel,  but 
among  their  degenerate  descendants  he  encounters  but  puny 


94  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

and  contemptible  antagonists.  Perhaps  if  he  had  met  these 
venerable  manipulators  they  might  still  be  living,  for  to  play 
with  Uncle  John  is  a  new  lease  of  life.  No  wonder  he  es- 
tablished the  fame  of  the  hand- clasp  among  the  belles  of  Ber- 
muda. The  man  who  can  distinguish  the  numbers  on  the 
face  of  the  domino  by  feeling  the  ivory  back,  must  be  en- 
dowed with  a  delicacy  of  touch  irresistible  in  beauty's  grasp. 
I  don't  know  how  we  could  get  along  now  without 
"  Uncle  John,"  a  respectful  and  affectionate  designation 
bestowed  on  him  as  a  term  of  endearment,  for  he  is  not  many 
years  the  senior  of  his  brother,  the  Commodore  ;  but  with 
his  unvarying  good-temper  and  kindness,  this  seems  to  be  his 
most  fitting  appellation — typical  of  benevolence  and  thought- 
ful consideration  for  others.  An  old  yachtsman  himself, 
for  many  years  owner  of  a  crack  vessel  of  the  New  York 
squadron,  he  is  fully  informed  as  to  all  the  requirements  of  a 
sea  voyage  and  his  equipment  is  complete  in  every  par- 
ticular. From  needle  and  thread,  which  he  handles  with  the 
dexterity  of  the  Fair  Maid  of  Perth,  to  the  restless  hammer, 
which  the  Gow  Chrom  himself  could  not  swing  more  nicely 
vigorous,  he  seems  to  encompass  everything  in  his  outfit,  lie 
has  clothing  adapted  to  every  change  of  temperature,  and  in 
the  matter  of  scarfs  and  neckties,  his  varied  assortment 
would  excite  the  envy  of  a  first-class  haberdasher.  I  came 
out  strong  myself  in  the  shoe  and  slipper  line,  wearing  a 
different  pair  every  day  for  some  time  ;  and  when  the  variety 
was  exhausted,  changed  ends  and  went  in  for  head  covering  ; 
having  a  diversified  collection,  from  the  various  grades  of  soft 
felt,  silk  and  rubber,  embracing  in  the  category  a  formidable 
sou'wester  and  a  knit  nightcap — but  the  overwhelming  and 
dazzling  array  of  neckties  in  Uncle  John's  repertoire  para- 
lyzed me.  I  gave  it  up,  acknowledging  a  dismal  failure  in 
the  clothing  trade,  and  became  a  bankrupt  in  style,  and  can 


AT   SEA. 


i>:) 


never  take  the  benefit  of  any  act  without  the  consent  of 
Uncle  John,  my  principal  creditor.  In  days  gone  by,  I  was 
reputed  to  be  the  possessor  of  some  style,  but  my  glory  has 
departed.  I  never  fully  understood  the  extent  of  the 
decadent  change  that  time  has  wrought  until  I  encountered 
Uncle  John.  There  has  been  nothing  equal  to  it  since  that 
mirror  of  deportment,  Chcvcuxlicr  T'rancois  Lippen,  ava- 
lanchcd  the  colored  barber  from  Syracuse.  I  must  claim 
the  credit,  however,  of  having  made  a  good  fight,  and  didn't 
give  up  until  I  was  attacked  in  my  own  specialty.  When 
Uncle  John  paraded  a  white  felt-hat,  of  ancient  vintage, 
mellow-tinted  with  years,  and  flavorous  of  conquest  in  the 
shadowy  past  on  the  fashionable  "above  Bleecker  Street" 
promenades,  I  knew  that  further  resistance  would  be  in  vain, 
and  surrendered  at  discretion.  I  abjure  pretension  to  dress 
now  and  forever.  Not  even  the  tasteful,  artistic,  and  becom- 
ing habiliments  of  the  ex-mayor,  who  dug  the  Mohawk  River 
and  sets  the  fashion  in  dress  for  modish  tailors,  will  tempt  me 
to  emulate  his  example  of  well-fitting  and  carefully  chosen 
garments  ;  in  which  varied  fresh  hues  are  blended  in  charming 
confusion  with  the  subdued  tints  of  time-honored  over- 
employment ;  and  the  obsolete  pattern  jostles  with  new 
textures  of  economical  ready-made  design  !  Ah  !  if  I  had 
but  one  of  his  unique  cravats  of  the  old  Hardenbroek  No.  2 
epoch  ;  even  a  discarded  one  (no,  he  never  discards  them) — 
if  I  had  one  of  these  with  which  to  meet  Uncle  John,  I  need 
not  now  be  dragged  in  ill-clad  \anquishment  at  his  sartorial 
chariot  wheels.  As  it  is,  I  renounce  style  forever.  No 
more  !  I  have  taken  the  pledge. 

With  his  other  meritorious  attractions,  Uncle  John  is  well 
up  in  medicine  ;  and,  as  we  have  no  surgeon  on  board,  he 
prescribes  right  and  left  from  his  store  of  remedies,  large 
enough  for  an  army  hospital.      My  assumption  of  the  title  of 


96  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

M.D.  is  rejected;  notwithstanding  I  have  been  connected 
with  quarantine  and  lunacy,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  well 
up  in  both  sanity  and  insanity.  We  have  a  well-supplied 
medicine-chest  belonging  to  the  yacht,  but  that  is  of  the  allo- 
pathic complexion,  while  Uncle  John  isahomoeopathist.  No- 
body knows  how  to  administer  the  dose  prescribed  by  allo- 
pathy, while  Uncle  John  is  as  skillful  as  Hahnemann  himself. 
Still  we  go  in  for  discipline,  and  if  we  are  to  be  dosed,  insist 
upon  the  regular  ship's  medicine-chest,  according  to  the  num- 
ber and  direction  ;  so  between  the  rival  schools  of  allopathy 
and  homoeopathy  we  consult  neither  and  take  no  medicine. 
The  result  is,  we  are  all  well,  except  Uncle  John,  who  is  not 
going  to  take  the  trouble  of  bringing  medicine  aboard  for 
nothing,  and  affects  a  slight  illness  in  order  to  demonstrate 
the  efficacy  of  his  own  prescriptions.  It  must  be  admitted, 
however,  that  he  is  not  a  homoeopathic  bigot.  He  yields  to  a 
limited  extent  on  the  question  of  pills,  and  is  a  great  advocate 
of  the  virtues  of  those  made  according  to  the  formula  of  Dr. 
James,  by  a  prescription  which  has  been  handed  down  among 
the  traditions  of  the  Woodmarket.  Uncle  John  always  keeps 
them  on  hand.  Through  love  of  my  old  home,  as  soon  as  I 
learned  that  they  were  made  in  Utica,  I  took  some  of  the  pills 
myself,  although  I  needed  no  medicine  at  the  time.  I  don't 
know  what  they  are  intended  for  ;   I  didn't  find  out. 

The  other  guest  of  our  princely  host  is  an  old  friend  of 
Uncle  John's,  now  holding  a  responsible  place  in  the  govern- 
ment of  New  York  City.  They  formerly  owned  a  yacht  to- 
gether, and  were  chums  when  members  of  the  Volunteer  Fire 
Department  in  its  palmy  days.  Their  reminiscences  of  stir- 
ring incidents,  when  the  old  department  was  in  its  glory,  are 
highly  interesting,  and  serve  to  while  away  many  an  hour  be- 
fore we  turn  in  at  night. 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  four  voyagers  who  get  along  bet- 


AT   SEA.  97 

ter  together  than  we  do.  We  discuss  reh"gion  and  politics 
without  rancor,  air  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  of  law,  ph)'sic, 
and  divinity,  and  descant  learnedly  on  fashion  and  the  musical 
glasses.  What  we  don't  know  about  seamanship  might  be 
learned  from  the  cook  of  an  Erie  Canal  lake-boat,  who  is  a 
seafaring  man.  There  is  but  one  thing  to  mar  in  the  slightest 
degree  our  perfect  harmony  ;  but  a  shadow  will  intrude  even 
in  the  best-regulated  and  brightest  circles.  Notwithstanding 
their  intimate  friendship  for  years,  there  occasionally  crops 
out  a  jealous  feeling  between  Uncle  John  and  the  Commis- 
sioner, which  is  painful  to  the  Commodore  and  myself.  This 
baleful  influence  is — dominos. 

Uncle  John,  who  is  fertile  in  preparations,  has  another 
special  compound,  for  which  he  claims  great  erasivc  and  puri- 
fying virtues.  It  is  called  detergent,  and  he  claims  that,  if 
given  a  fair  trial,  it  would  clean  out  the  Philadelphia  city  gov- 
ernment, or  make  the  Utica  Gulf  (redolent  of  Governor's  veto) 
smell  sweet.  It  is  good  for  almost  every  purpose  except 
eating,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  he  would  not  recommend  it, 
for  depilatory  as  well  as  detersive  powers,  against  hairs  in 
country-hotel  butter.  One  evening  closing  in  cloudy  and 
unpleasant,  the  Commodore  gravely  asked  Uncle  John  if  he 
wouldn't  please  bring  a  pinch  of  detergent  on  deck  and  clean 
up  the  nasty  weather. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BASSE  TERRE. 

An  Abortive  Sunrise — Washing  Decks — Sea-ditties — A  Shanty  Song — ^ 
Sombrero — Saba — The  Rock-sail — St.  Eustatius — St.  Christopher — 
Basse  Terre — The  Yankee  Jack-knife — Hurricanes,  Floods,  and 
Pestilence — Dulcc-doinum. 

St.  Christopher  (St.  Kitt's),  March  i6,  1884. 
Often,  when  at  sea  heretofore,  have  I  promised  myself  a 
first-class  view  of  sunrise,  but  something  always  happened, 
or  didn't  happen,  to  prevent  this  enjoyment.  Usually  the 
insignificant  obstacle  was  my  failure  to  get  up  in  time.  It  is 
not  so  easy  to  "  rise  up  William  Reilly  "  on  a  passenger  steam- 
er ;  but  there  is  comparatively  little  difficulty  aboard  a  yacht, 
particularly  when  one  occupies  a  state-room  aft,  when  all  that 
is  necessary  is  to  turn  out  from  the  bunk  into  the  companion- 
way,  and  then,  in  three  steps,  the  deck  is  reached.  Besides, 
the  preliminaries  of  toilet  arrangement,  putting  up  the  back 
hair  and  curling  the  front,  are  not  dc  rigncur.  There  is  a 
Spartan  simplicity  of  attire  maintained,  not  customary  where 
there  are  many  observers  on  deck.  I  had,  on  rare  occasions, 
seen  the  sunrise  on  shore — returning  from  parties,  traveling 
by  rail,  or  attending  early  church  service — but  a  full-dress 
sunrise  at  sea  I  had  never  witnessed,  although  many  oppor- 
tunities had  offered  during  years  of  travel.  So  I  determined 
to  secure  a  front  seat — like  a  church  elder  at  a  "  Black  Crook  " 
performance  away  from  home — and  take  in  an  uninterrupted 
view  of  the  gorgeous  spectacle.     I  had  been  so  derelict  in 


BASSE  terrp:.  99 

attendance  at  the  levees  of  his  solar  majesty  all  my  life,  that 
I  resolved  to  make  reparation  by  early  presence  at  tiiis  late 
day  (repenting,  like  the  elect  member  who  goes  straight  to 
lieaven  by  the  eleventh  hour,  gallows  air  line)  and  therefore 
arranged  to  be  called  in  season. 

Accordingly  I  was  notified  one  morning  by  the  Commis- 
sioner— whose  expansive  and  handsome  presence  occupied  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  quarter-deck,  airily  arrayed  in 
voluminous  envelopment  a  la  mode  dc  lit — that  the  sun  was 
about  to  rise,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  me  on  deck.  I 
mounted  the  companion-way,  protruded  my  ivory  bang 
through  the  opening,  and  saw,  lighting  up  the  eastern  sk\',  a 
faint  pink  suffusion,  the  precedent  promise  of  the  advent  of 
the  god  of  day  (which  I  take  it  is  the  correct  reportorial 
style,  according  to  the  late  lamented  Micawber).  I  waited 
patiently  for  a  long  time,  but  no  sun  appeared.  I  couldn't 
have  displayed  more  patience  had  I  been  like  some  young 
fellow  waiting  outside  a  church-door,  while  the  clerg)'man 
preached  a  long-winded  evening  sermon  at  his  best  girl  in- 
side. Meantime  the  moon  was  yet  shining  refulgent,  high 
above  the  western  horizon  ;  holding  her  own  with  true  fem- 
inine pertinacity,  bright  as  if  she  were  engaged  for  just  one 
more  waltz  before  retiring.  The  pink  suffusion  continued, 
with  fluttering  suspicion  of  a  crimson  flush,  like  a  trace  of 
raspberry  syrup  in  a  circus  lemonade,  but  still  the  sun  lingered 
below  the  sea,  as  if  reluctant  to  appear,  blushing  at  being 
caught  with  his  rays  down,  in  the  morning  by  the  bright 
light.  I  think  I  waited  two  decollete  \\o\\x^  to  see  that  sun 
rise,  and  then  withdrew.  I  suppose  that,  on  account  of  some 
derangement  of  scenery,  the  performance  for  ni}'  special  ben- 
efit has  been  postponed  until  a  more  favorable  occasion.  The 
fact  is,  the  faint  reflection  came  an  hour  or  so  before  the  sun 
"was  ready  to  turn  out,  and  the  Commissioner,  whose  habits  do 


lOO  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

not  make  him  familiar  with  early  morning  appearances,  being 
unaware  of  that  atmospheric  peculiarity,  treated  me  as  a 
sluggard  and  waked  me  too  soori.  When  the  luminary  did 
rise,  he  was  smothered  behind  a  pillow  of  cloud  which  hid 
him  from  view  until  long  after  breakfast.  Perhaps  he  took 
his  own  breakfast  in  bed.  But  I  saw  some  delicate  tints  of 
green,  saffron,  ashes-of-roses,  red,  yellow  and  ecru,  which 
fully  repaid  my  devotion  to  his  worship,  the  sun,  for  they 
gave  me  glowing  ideas  for  a  scarf,  before  which  I  purpose  to 
make  Uncle  John  pale  his  ineffectual  fires,  when  I  return  to 
New  York,  where  silks  are  cheap. 

The  Persians  at  Ispahan  salute  the  rising  sun  with  flour- 
ish of  trumpets.  I  won't  adopt  that  cult  unless  it  is  changed 
to  the  setting  orb,  to  suit  my  convenience,  Pompey  said 
that  more  worship  the  rising  than  the  setting  sun,  but  he  had 
in  view  the  distribution  of  offices.  I'll  stay  with  the  minor- 
ity ;  I  feel  more  at  home.  I  haven't  essayed  the  sunrise  act 
since  this  failure,  and,  as  it  is  doubtful  if  I  make  another  ef- 
fort, you  may  imagine,  if  you  please,  all  kinds  of  eloquent 
and  felicitous  descriptions  and  credit  them  to  me.  One  can 
always  describe  better  without  seeing.  Then  the  imagina- 
tion is  not  clogged  by  the  trammels  of  accuracy,  as  are  the 
utterances  of  agitators,  reformers,  editors,  revivalists,  auc- 
tioneers, and  members  of  Congress.  I  think  I  should  recog- 
nize the  face  of  the  morning  sun  if  I  should  happen  to  see 
him,  though  when  we  met  'twas  in  a  cloud.  However,  if  I 
am  behind  in  attendance  at  the  lever  du  soldi,  I  make  it  up 
by  being  punctual  at  the  coiicJice.  While  I  may  not  see  him 
rise,  I  am  always  on  hand  at  sunset. 

Speaking  of  rising,  I  had  the  best  of  the  sailors  that 
morning.  They  didn't  have  the  opportunity  to  waken  me, 
as  is  their  spiteful  usage.  It  is  their  barbarous  custom  to 
stamp   around  overhead,  disturbing   my   innocent  slumbers, 


BASSE   TERRK.  10 I 

dashing  water  over  the  deck,  scraping,  scrubbing,  sanding, 
and  cavorting  in  various  cleansing  eccentricities,  greatly  to 
the  detriment  of  that  beauty-sleep,  which  I  have  been  prac- 
ticing assiduously  since  boyhood,  without  noticing  any  ap- 
preciable improvement  in  my  personal  appearance.  If  in- 
dustrious and  prolonged  beauty-sleep  in  the  morning  could 
make  one  handsome,  I  would  be  a  Mohawk  Valley  Antinoiis. 

It  is  strange  how  evil  habits  become  confirmed  by  indul- 
gence. Scarcely  has  daybreak,  with  ill-timed  officiousness, 
intruded  on  peaceful  slumbers,  when  the  sailor  seizes  bucket 
and  broom,  and  attacks  the  deck  with  the  ferocity  of  a  tidy 
housewife  in  cleaning  season.  Happily  that  comes  but  twice 
a  year,  while  here  it  is  an  every-day  vicious  habit.  If  it 
should  rain  all  night,  up  comes  Jack  in  the  morning,  sloshing 
around  with  the  impartiality  of  an  undiscriminating  shillalah 
at  Donnybrook  Fair.  I  asked  the  mate  one  morning,  when 
they  were  scrubbing  the  deck  after  hours  of  flooding  rain, 
why  they  were  engaged  in  such  an  obvious  work  of  super- 
erogation—  employment  severely  discountenanced  in  the 
Thirty  Nine  Articles.  He  said  it  was  to  wash  off  the  fresh 
water.  The  sailor  has  no  respect  for  fresh  water — except  in 
grog.  I  don't  see  why  they  can't  scrub  the  deck  at  night. 
Then  my  sleep  wouldn't  be  broken  quite  so  much. 

Since  the  general  employment  of  steam  in  navigation,  the 
habits  of  sailors  have  naturally  changed  so  as  to  conform,  in 
some  degree  at  least,  to  the  existing  condition  of  sea  service. 
The  old  Jack  tar,  with  his  natty  blue  jacket,  immaculate 
white  trousers,  flowing  neckerchief,  and  jaunty  tar[)aulin  hat, 
is  being  merged  in  the  greasy  stoker.  The  dust,  smoke, 
cinders  and  soot  of  the  steamship  make  sad  havoc  with  the 
purity  of  white  duck  ;  the  stiff  tarpaulin  has  no  place  in  the 
sweltering  confines  of  the  boiler-room  and  coal-bunker  ; 
everything  is  done  by  machinery  ;   the  anchor  is  hoisted  by 


I02  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK, 

steam,  the  sails  set  by  steam,  and  even  the  vessel  steered  by 
steam.  William  and  Black-eyed  Susan  belong  to  the  stage, 
and  the  oil-stained  sailor  of  to-day  is  but  a  grimy  representa- 
tive of  the  airy  and  romantic  jolly  tar,  who  danced  the 
sailor's  hornpipe,  wielded  a  heavy  cutlass  as  if  it  were  a 
toothpick,  and  blasted  his  eyes,  and  shivered  his  timbers, 
and  avasted,  and  ahoyed,  in  days  of  yore.  As  steam  has  so 
largely  superseded  manual  labor,  the  sea-songs  with  which 
sailors  used  to  keep  time  when  pulling  and  hauling  in  com- 
bined and  simultaneous  effort,  are  dying  away  in  faint  echoes, 
and  soon  they  will  only  mingle  with  the  discredited  strains 
of  the  nearly  forgotten  mermaid.  True  there  are  navies  to 
keep  up  the  old  standard,  and  sailing  vessels  and  yachts  to 
maintain  the  recollection  and  traditions  of  the  blue  jackets, 
but  they  are  fast  being  smothered  by  steam.  Occasionally 
we  hear  some  of  the  familiar  chants,  but  "  Ranzo,"  "  Haul 
Away,  Joe,"  and  "  Knock-a-man-down,"  rarely  animate  the 
sailor  in  this  period  of  maritime  degeneracy.  Of  course  sea- 
men have  to  be  educated  in  their  vocation,  but  the  sailor  has 
become  something  like  the  mechanic.  Large  manufactories 
and  mills,  with  complex  labor-saving  apparatus,  have  done 
away  measurably  with  the  journeym.an  who  served  his  time 
as  an  apprentice  to  an  experienced  master.  Machinery  not 
only  works,  but  thinks,  and  the  machine-feeder  takes  the 
place  of  the  skilled  mechanic. 

The  sea-songs  of  Dibdin  and  others  were  really  made  for 
landsmen,  and  are  different  from  the  sailors'  chants  proper, 
which  were  of  other  material  ;  like  their  working  toggery, 
expressive  and  matter-of-fact.  Prosody  received  but  scant 
consideration,  but  the  rhymes  were  a  sort  of  rugged  doggerel, 
with  a  refrain  strongly  accentuated,  which  served  as  a  signal 
for  all  to  pull  away  together.  They  were  called  Shanty 
songs,  from  the  French  word  cJiaiiter,  to  sing,  and  many  of 


BASSE   TERRE.  IO3 

them  are  familiar,  having  been  incorporated  in  magazine 
articles  and  published  in  books.  One  of  the  sailors  aboard 
the  Montauk,  who  has  been  in  the  West  Indies,  furnishes  the 
following  example  of  a  Shanty  song,  which  is  evidently  the 
composition  of  some  one  possessed  of  a  better  ear  for  rh\-thm 
than  the  ordinary  cJiaiitcur,  as  the  measure  is  reasonably  ac- 
curate. The  refrains,  Largy  Kargy  and  Wcoiy  Krcruy,  arc 
evidently  corruptions  of  Spanish  words,  probably  intended 
for  Largo  Cargo  and  Bucna  Carina — big  cargo,  and  good 
little  girl : 

We're  bound  for  the  West  Ingics  straight, 
Largy — Kargy,  Haul  away  O — h. 

Come  lively,  boys,  or  we'll  be  late, 

Weeny — Kreeny,  Haul  away  O — h. 

We'll  have  rum  and  baccy  plenty, 

Largy — etc., 
Cocos,  yams,  and  argy-denty,' 

Weeny — etc. 

No  more  horse  ■  and  dandy  funky,' 
But  St.  Kitten's  roasted  monkey. 

We'll  go  fiddle  with  black  Peter, 
Dance  nil  night  with  Wannereeter.* 

At  Kooreso  ■''  we'll  get  frisky. 
Throwing  dice  with  Dutch  Francisky. 

WMien  we've  found  the  pirate's  money. 
We'll  live  on  shore  eating  honey. 

Wear  big  boots  of  allygator. 
Taking  Nance  to  the  thayayter. 

We'll  bunk  no  more  with  cockroaches, 

Largy — Kargy — Haul  away  O — h. 
But  ride  all  day  in  soft  coaches, 

Weeny — Kreeny,  Haul  away  O — h. 


'  AgJtardicnU.  "  Salt  horse,  i.e.,  corned  beef. 

•  Dandy  funk,  a  cheap  mess  of  old  biscuit  and  molasses. 

*  yuanita.  '  Curacoa. 


104  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

The  delicious  moonlight  nights  made  our  run  from  Ber. 
muda  to  St.  Kitt's  a  voyage  of  pleasant  remembrance,  afford- 
ing a  delightful  contrast  to  the  first  week  out  of  New  York. 
We  were  on  one  tack  (that  is  without  shifting  sails)  for  sixty 
hours  ;  an  unusual  length  of  time,  which  prompted  the  Com- 
missioner to  remark  that  Uncle  John  must  have  been  using 
above,  the  tack-hammer  which  he  swings  with  such  muscular 
dexterity  below.  We  sat  on  deck  until  after  midnight,  offer- 
ing incense  of  fragrant  cigars  to  the  serene  moon,  and  pity- 
ing the  poor  fellows  on  shore,  who  were  probably  shuddering 
in  bleak  March  winds,  their  nostrils  filled  with  the  whirling 
pulverizations  of  dirty  New  York  streets,  or  suffering  from 
the  catarrh-charged  slush  of  aqueous  Utica. 

Thursday  morning,  March  13th,  we  sighted  the  first  land 
after  leaving  Bermuda,  the  Sombrero  lighthouse,  on  a  phos- 
phatic  island,  which  at  once  suggested  to  Uncle  John  the 
efficacy  of  James'  pills,  while  the  Commissioner  thought  that 
the  Company  working  the  fertilizer  might  find  a  valuable 
agent  in  detergent.  Next  we  neared  Saba,  a  mountainous 
island,  on  which  we  could  discern  no  habitations,  as  we 
passed  to  the  windward,  and  the  only  village  is  on  the  lee- 
ward side  ;  a  little  nest  hollowed  out  of  the  mountain's  breast 
by  some  volcanic  convulsion  ;  a  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
reached  by  flights  of  steps.  The  inhabitants,  who  are  all 
sailors,  build  boats  on  the  wooded  declivities  and  slide  them 
down  to  the  beach.  These  Dutch  islanders  are  simple,  fru- 
gal, and  industrious,  hold  no  ward  caucuses,  have  no  relig- 
ious revivals,  attend  no  reform  meetings,  and  are  quite  happy 
and  contented.  As  we  approached,  we  saw,  in  the  distant 
sea  beyond,  a  sail  which  w^e  supposed  was  making  for  the 
island.  Glasses  were  brought  to  bear  on  the  object,  and 
various  conjectures  were  offered  as  to  the  character  and 
course  of  the  vessel ;  one  declaring  that  she  was  a  fore-and- 


BASSE   TERKE.  105 

after,  another  that  she  was  square-rigged  ;  one  that  her  course 
was  to  the  southward,  another  that  she  was  bound  nc^rtli. 
Two  other  sails  were  afterward  discovered,  closer  to  hind, 
which  also  secured  a  share  of  curious  attention.  We  won- 
dered that  the  first  sail  made  so  little  progress,  if  moving 
in  the  same  direction  with  us,  or  receded  so  slowl\-,  if  sailing 
on  a  contrary  course  ;  until  after  a  time  the  sharp  e)'e  of  the 
sailing  master  (who  had  himself  been  deceived  at  first)  solved 
the  mystery.  He  discovered  that  what  we  mistook  for  sails 
were  rocks,  the  first  one  far  remote  from  the  shore.  Here 
was  an  opportunity  for  the  Commissioner  to  indulge  in  phil- 
osophic reflections,  such  as  every  little  incident  out  of  the 
usual  course  causes  him  to  frame  ;  drawing  morals  for  our 
edification.  "  How  aptly,"  said  he,  "  docs  that  rock  illus- 
trate the  fallacy  of  human  theories,  and  the  vanity  of  enthu- 
siastic hopes  and  aspirations,  particularly  in  the  fresh  exu- 
berance of  youth  !  How  we  look  with  hopeful  eyes  upon  the 
vessels  of  imagination  which  we  launch  on  the  sea  of  life, 
freighted  with  joyous  anticipation,  expecting  them  to  return 
argosies,  laden  with  riches,  or,  with  swelling  sails,  gliding 
proudly  into  the  harbor  of  Fame.  What  cargoes  of  love, 
what  stores  of  friendship,  arc  carried  by  prosperous  gales  in 
these  aerial  ships  of  the  mind  !  How  often  do  we  make  bril- 
liant promise  of  what  we  will  do  when  our  ship  comes  in  ; 
but  alas!  the  ship  comes  not,  and  the  golden  prow  and  silken 
sails,  when  we  near  them,  turn  out  to  be  but  barren  rocks  of 
disappointment  !  "  Whereupon  the  fanciful  Commissioner, 
with  the  tristful  visage  of  a  bull  broker  in  a  bear  market, 
went  below  and  spliced  a  melancholy  main-brace.  Then 
Uncle  John  queried  if  that  rock-sail  didn't  belong  on  a  stone- 
boat. 

But  at  this  rate  we  shall  never  reach  St.  Kitt's,  which  has 
been   gradually  looming  up    with    beckoning    invitation    for 


I06  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

hours.  Evidently  it  is  as  hard  for  yoii  to  get  to  the  West 
Indies  in  my  letters,  as  it  was  to  get  away  from  Bermuda — 
an  unconscionably  long  and  tedious  epistolary  excursion,  I 
admit.  Let  us  sail  on,  then,  b}-  St,  Eustatius,  like  Saba,  a 
Dutch  island,  w'ith  a  frowning  fortress  and  a  governor.  The 
fortress  is  an  excuse  for  a  governor,  and  what  would  a  gov- 
ernor be  without  a  fortress.  It  is  different  in  New  York. 
There  the  governor  is  strongly  entrenched  in  the  hearts  of  a 
grateful  and  admiring  people.  No  cards  !  There  is  but  one 
small  town  on  St.  Eustatius — Orangetown — named  probably 
after  the  Prince  of  Oranges.  We  could  hear  no  dreadful 
note  of  preparation  for  the  approaching  anniversary  of  Ire- 
land's patron  saint,  and  could  see  no  stove-pipe  hats  acquir- 
ing festal  polish  for  the  occasion.  They  must  be  all  Orange- 
men there. 

We  reached  St.  Kitt's,  despite  the  philosophic  head- 
wands  of  the  Commissioner.  I  observe  that,  as  Voltaire 
said,  "  Providence  always  favors  the  heaviest  battalions,"  so 
the  winds  and  waves  have  a  philosophy  of  their  own,  and  pay 
no  attention  to  the  profound  vaticinations  of  a  New  York 
politician.  After  sailing  along  the  shore  for  a  long  time,  ap- 
parently near  and  yet  afar,  we  at  length  made  the  red  light 
of  St.  Kitt's,  described  in  the  books  as  visible  fifteen  miles, 
but  which  we  ascertained,  when  daylight  came,  was  merely  a 
red  lantern,  hung  out  of  the  second  story  of  the  Custom- 
house, not  much  more  brilliant  than  the  light  borne  by  the 
leader  of  his  gang  in  an  election  procession.  Feeling  our 
w'ay,  cautiously  as  a  chap  behind  the  garden  wall  who  knew 
that  the  old  man  was  on  the  lookout  for  him  with  a  blunder- 
buss loaded  with  rock-salt,  we  were  enabled  to  cast  anchor 
in  the  roadstead,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night.  The  optical  effect 
as  we  sailed  by  the  mountainous  shore  was  remarkable.  The 
dark,  beetling  masses,  streaked  with  white  where  sugar-cane 


BASSE   TERRE.  IO7 

fields  belt  the  mountain-side,  seemed  as  if  they  were  but  a 
stone's  throw  distant,  and  yet  they  were  four  or  five  miles 
away.  Sometimes  the  hills  looked  as  if  they  were  coming 
down  to  meet  us,  and  we  felt  as  if  we  could  almost  step 
ashore.  I  don't  know  how  to  account  for  this.  It  is  some 
atmospheric  condition,  but  I  am  not  well  enou^^h  versed  in 
physics  to  have  sufficient  knowledge  of  these  phenomena  to 
explain  them.  Uncle  John  tried  to  account  for  the  purity  of 
the  air  by  a  surmise  that  the  monkeys  habitually  used  James' 
pills,  but  I  couldn't  understand  how  they  procured  them. 
Felix  Hornung  has  no  trade  here.  Otherwise  I  might  have 
acquiesced,  for  I  stand  by  home  production  on  all  occasions. 
We  had  alternate  bright  skies,  with  the  moon  shining  mildly, 
and  sudden  showers  of  rain,  which  came  unannounced,  and 
burst  in  on  us  like  fellows  who  invite  themselves  to  luncheon. 
Sometimes  the  fleeting  showers  hardly  showed  the  cloud  from 
which  they  dripped,  and  the  celerity  with  which  they  came 
and  went  could  only  be  excelled  by  the  alacrity  of  an  office- 
seeking  patriot,  adapting  himself  to  the  fluctuating  principles 
of  a  successful  party. 

But  we  were  in  the  West  Indies  at  last,  and  we  turned  in, 
all  to  dream  of  the  vernal  freshness  that  would  adorn  our  own 
fair  land  when  we  came  sailing  back  again  ;  and  my  com- 
panions, of  the  fond  welcome  that  awaited  them  when  they 
returned  to  their  loved  ones  at  home. 

The  scene  which  met  our  eyes  as  we  came  on  deck  this 
morning  was  peculiarly  grateful,  succeeding  a  week  at  sea. 
with  its  unrelieved  glare  of  waters,  not  a  sail  appearing  to 
vary  the  monotony  of  view.  It  is  remarkable  that  during 
all  our  voyage  from  New  York  we  have  seen  but  one  sail  by 
daylight,  although  several  were  reported  passing  at  night. 
But  they  may  have  been  spectral  shapes  of  ships,  foundered 
at  sea   and    never   heard    from,  still   haunting    the  wave  in 


I08  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

ghostly  anxiety  to  send  messages  to  expectant  homes.  Per- 
haps the  Flying  Dutchman  is  cruising  in  endless  expiation 
hereabouts,  but  we  are  not  fated  to  meet  the  blasphemous 
Vanderdecken.  As  the  gifted  John  Boyle  O'Reilly  says  in 
his  poem  : 

"  They'll  never  reach  their  destined  port,  they'll  see  their  homes  no 
more  : 
They  who  see  the  Flying  Dutchman  never,  never  reach  the  shore." 

The  Montauk  was  launched  under  an  auspicious  star,  and 
christened  by  a  hand  that  could  not  fail  to  bring  the  good- 
fortune  which  has  already  made  her  a  proverbially  lucky 
boat. 

The  town  of  Basse  Terre,  the  principal  settlement  of  St. 
Kitt's,  is  situated  on  the  sea-shore,  from  which  rise,  at  a  short 
distance,  high  mountains,  in  verdure  clad  ;  the  encircling 
fields  of  sugar-cane  looking  like  bands  of  pale  green  velvet 
swathing  the  swelling  sides  ;  while  the  lofty  peak  is  enveloped 
by  a  translucent  vail  of  filmy  vapor,  gracefully  undulating  in 
the  fresh  morning  breeze,  which  fans  into  coolness  the  sun- 
shiny air.  The  red  roofs  of  low  houses,  standing  out  in  the 
village  against  a  background  of  green  fields,  has  a  most 
picturesque  effect  (it  is  always  grateful  to  see  "  the  green 
above  the  red  ") ;  while  the  groups  of  negroes,  in  variegated 
dress,  gathered,  in  observant,  chattering  conclave,  along  the 
wharf,  give  animation  to  the  picture.  On  a  promontory, 
commanding  the  anchorage  ground  (there  is  no  harbor,  but 
a  roadstead,  partially  land-locked)  is  the  site  of  a  battery, 
once  a  formidable  menace  to  the  incoming  mariner,  now 
abandoned,  and,  like  an  old  veteran  who  has  been  used  and 
set  aside,  of  no  consequence  ;  a  mere  signal-station  to  guide, 
in  peaceful  routes,  the  trading  merchantman,  enriched  by  the 
profits  of  past  wars.     Brimstone  Hill,  fifteen  miles  distant,  on 


BASSE   TERRE.  IO9 

the  Caribbean  side,  is  another  point  formerly  fortified.  It  is 
now  dismantled,  and,  bein^  remote  from  the  settlement,  is 
garrisoned  by  hordes  of  monkeys,  who  swarm  in  the  surround- 
ing forests.  What  a  commentary  on  the  mutability  of  affairs  ! 
This  erstwhile  frowning  fortress,  bristling  with  destructive 
armament,  defended  by  impregnable  works,  so  strong  as  to 
cause  it  to  be  named  "  The  Gibraltar  of  the  West  Indies,"  is 
now  abandoned  to  capering  monkeys,  who  gibber  in  its  para- 
lytic bomb-proofs,  and  swing  prehensile,  in  mocking  gambols, 
through  its  toothless  casements.  In  our  own  country  the 
knavish  ape  sometimes  invades  the  War  Department,  and 
"  plays  such  fantastic  tricks  before  high  Heaven  as  make  the 
angels  weep,"  even  while  the  land  is  yet  perilous  in  the  grap- 
ple of  internecine  conflict. 

We  were  rowed  ashore  in  the  gig  of  the  Commodore,  and 
called  first  at  the  Custom-house  (simply  a  matter  of  courtes}-, 
for  a  special  permit  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasur\'  makes 
this  a  United  States  vessel,  exempt  from  entry  and  clear- 
ance), and  then  at  the  office  of  the  American  Consul,  Mr. 
De  Lile,  whom  we  found  to  be  a  pleasant  gentleman,  a  native 
of  the  island,  of  French  descent.  He  has  succeeded  his  late 
father  as  Consul,  and  is  thus  a  diplomat  by  inheritance.  In 
his  office  we  saw  a  familiar  object  which  betrayed  the  Amer- 
ican presence,  and  showed  the  freedom  of  mutilation  enjo\-ed 
under  the  starry  banner  of  our  own  country.  It  was  a  desk, 
carved  in  the  well-known  st)'le  that  gave  evidence  that  the 
Yankee  jack-knife  had  been  there.  The  desk  was  a  reminder 
of  home  ;  it  was  like  the  ranz-dcs-vaches  of  the  Swiss,  or  the 
Irish  shamrock.  We  at  once  felt  at  home  in  the  Consul's 
office  ;  the  flag  of  the  free  floated  over  our  heads,  and  we  sat 
at  the  friendly,  whittled  board  of  our  native  land. 

Mr.  De  Lile  accompanied  us  to  the  telegraph  office,  where 
we  sent  a  cipher  message  to  New  York.      Including  address 


no  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

and  signature,  it  contained  four  words,  and  cost  $Q.6o.  I 
fancy  that  the  march  of  cheap  telegraphy  is  not  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  that  there  is  not  much  business  done  at  that  office- 
One  day's  busy  work  would  absorb  the  yearly  revenues  of 
St.  Kitt's. 

Passing  through  the  public  square,  we  saw  the  Berkeley 
fountain,  a  handsome  and  useful  memorial  to  a  former  Presi- 
dent of  the  island.  The  President,  it  may  be  stated,  derives 
his  title  from  presiding  over  the  Council,  clothed  with  certain 
executive  functions.  He  is  appointed  by  the  Crown.  So  is 
the  Council.  It  is  a  mere  shadow  of  representative  govern- 
ment. We  called  upon  the  acting  President,  Mr.  Eldridge, 
who  gave  us  much  valuable  information  regarding  St.  Kitt's, 
and  the  neighboring  islands  of  Nevis  and  Antigua,  at  the 
latter  of  which  is  stationed  the  Governor  who  controls  the 
three  colonies  confederated  under  one  administration.  Mr. 
Eldridge  showed  us  at  the  Government  House  a  piece  of  board 
which  demonstrated  the  tremendous  force  of  a  hurricane. 
It  had  been  torn  off  the  Catholic  church,  during  the  tornado 
of  1 87 1,  carried  a  long  distance,  and  driven  through  four 
thicknesses  of  heavy  plank,  intruding  about  two  feet  within 
the  building  wall.  It  had  been  left  there  as  a  curiosity. 
This  showed  the  power  of  a  Church  Board — in  a  hurricane. 

St.  Kitt's  has  enjoyed  its  share  of  afflictions.  In  1880,  a 
sudden  night  flood  from  the  mountains — a  cloud-burst,  prob- 
ably— swept  away  a  portion  of  the  town,  and  drowned  two 
hundred  and  forty  persons.  Judge  Semper  told  us  of  a 
young  man,  occupying  a  fine  house  in  the  devastated  district, 
who  was  awakened  in  the  night  by  a  friend  of  his,  captain  of 
a  vessel  lying  at  anchor,  who  insisted  upon  his  accompany- 
ing him  aboard,  to  take  a  glass  of  grog  in  the  cool  moon- 
light. The  gentleman  was  loath  to  go,  and  it  was  only  on 
the  captain  declaring  that  he  would  beat  the  door  in  if  he 


BASSE   TEKRE.  Ill 

refused,  that  he  at  length  rohictantly  consented,  leaving  his 
servant  in  the  house.  When  he  returned  in  the  morning, 
not  a  vestige  of  the  edifice  was  to  be  seen  on  its  foundaticjn  ; 
but  some  distance  off  he  recognized  the  iron  gate  of  his 
fence,  the  only  article  recovered.  His  servant  was  never 
heard  of  again.  Those  who  believe  in  special  providences 
might  find  in  this  incident  a  moral  of  some  kind.  Perhaps 
an  occult  influence  (I  fancy  it  was  rum)  compelled  the  cap- 
tain to  persist  in  his  importunity,  after  his  friend  had  mani- 
fested a  strong  disinclination  to  accompany  him,  and  thus 
saved  a  life  by  his  pertinacity.  Here  is  an  anecdote  to  off- 
set the  Sunday-school  story  of  the  bad  little  boy  drowned 
while  fishing  on  the  American  Sabbath.  I  hope,  however, 
that  drummers  for  new  books,  and  insurance  brokers,  will 
not  take  advantage  of  this  recital  and  use  it  against  me  pro- 
fessionally hereafter,  insisting  upon  my  taking  something  for 
luck. 

A  few  years  ago  the  island  suffered  a  loss  of  about  five 
thousand  from  cholera.  The  bodies  of  the  victims  were  buried 
in  great  trenches  near  the  sea-shore,  and  the  action  of  the 
waves  is  gradually  uncovering  the  remains,  skulls  and  Ijoncs 
being  washed  out  occasionally  by  the  encroaching  waters. 
There  is  no  assortment  of  plagues,  hurricanes,  or  floods  on 
hand  at  present,  but  there  is  a  large  supply  of  measles,  epi- 
demic, but  not  particularly  virulent.  Antigua  presents  su- 
perior claims  to  distinction,  having  some  two  thousand  five 
hundred  cases  in  .stock.  St.  Kitt's,  too,  is  behind  in  the  mat- 
ter of  earthquakes.  Its  efforts  in  this  line  have  been  weakly 
unsuccessful. 

Of  the  twenty-eight  thousand  inhabitants,  about  two  thou- 
sand are  white,  and  if  it  should  enter  the  heads  of  the  blacks 
to  get  up  a  strike  some  time,  they  could  make  it  unpleasant 
for  the  poor  white  trash.      I  rise  to  remark  that  this  is  not  in- 


112  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

tended  for  a  hint  to  meddling  agitators  to  come  down  to  this 
island  and  kick  up  a  row  in  the  interest  of  reform.  There 
are  no  regular  troops  here,  and  but  one  company  of  volun- 
teer cavalry  ;  consisting  of  a  few  men,  too  widely  scattered 
to  be  available  in  an  emergency.  The  police  force  is  all 
black,  and  the  men  are  clean  and  well  dressed,  civil  and  in- 
telligent enough.  They  receive  $I2  a  month  pay.  Taking 
into  consideration  its  many  attractions,  St.  Kitt's  is  beyond 
question  a  most  delightful  place  to  live  away  from. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ST.   KITT'S. 

Iccd-water — Teeth — Tonsorial — Sharks — Roses — PcHcans  —  A  Drive — 
ReUgions  —  St.  Patrick's  Day  —  Wonderful  Adventures  with 
Monkeys. 

Basse  Terre,  St.  Kitt's,  March  i8,  1884. 
There  is  a  small  park  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  con- 
taining handsome  palm-trees,  flowering  white-cedars,  and 
tropical  plants.  A  cacttis  tree,  twcnt)'-five  feet  high,  is  curi- 
ous, but  not  so  much  so  as  a  banyan,  which  already  over- 
shadows a  large  space,  and  is  gradually  spreading  its  roots  so 
as  to  interfere  with  the  fountain  in  the  middle  of  the  park. 
It  has  but  one  trunk,  however,  as  the  pendents,  which  reach 
down  from  the  limbs  and  take  root,  becoming  trunks  in  turn, 
and  putting  forth  fresh  offshoots,  are  cut  off  as  they  appear. 
Otherwise  the  tree  would  in  time  engross  the  whole  park — a 
sort  of  mother-in-law,  bringing  in  other  members  of  the  famih'. 
The  trunk  would  be  invaluable  during  the  fashionable  season 
at  Saratoga. 

Basse  Terre  is  copiously  supplied  with  water  from  the 
mountain  springs;  with  a  superabuPidance  at  times,  as  before 
stated.  It  is  carried  through  pipes  with  hydrant  attachments, 
and  there  are  sewers,  which  we  saw  them  flushing  as  we 
passed  through  Cayon  Street.  The  fire  department  is  a  sim- 
ple organization.  The  hose  carriages  are  men's  shoulders, 
the  reels  of  hose  being  borne  on  the  head.  I  have  known 
8 


114  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

firemen  to  carry  reels  inside  their  heads,  but  this  is  an  outside 
conveyance — a  water  carriage.  The  other  kind  of  reel  was 
not.  No  ice  is  used  here.  It  doesn't  grow,  and  the  demand 
will  not  warrant  importation.  Water  for  drinking  purposes 
is  kept  in  porous  earthen  vessels,  like  the  old  Spanish  jars — 
or  Egyptian,  for  that  matter— and  is  cool  enough.  Drinking 
iced- water  profusely  is  a  vicious  American  habit.  It  impairs 
digestion  and  injures  the  teeth.  Hence  we  have  worse  stom- 
achs and  teeth  than  any  other  people.  A  Bermudian  gentle- 
man, speaking  of  this  dental  inferiority,  said  that  he  attri- 
buted it  to  iced-water  and  confectionery.  He  told  how  he 
was  in  New  York,  a  few  years  ago,  during  the  cold  winter 
when  the  East  River  was  frozen  over,  and  persons  crossed  on 
the  ice  to  Brooklyn.  The  morning  after  his  arrival,  he  was 
shivering  in  bed  and  rang  the  bell.  A  servant  answered  out- 
side his  chamber-door,  and  he  heard  the  tinkle  of  ice.  Open- 
ing the  door,  a  pitcher  of  iced-water  was  thrust  at  him. 
"  What  the  deuce  do  I  want  of  this?  "  said  he,  "  I'm  nearly 
frozen  already.  Bring  me  some  hot  water  for  shaving."  The 
idea  of  iced-water  when  the  thermometer  ranged  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  zero  was  to  him  ludicrous.  He  was  compelled  to 
bribe  the  hall-boys  not  to  bring  it  to  him  when  he  rang  the 
bell.  We  use  too  much  ice.  We  ice  everything,  freeze  vege- 
tables, and  destroy  the  delicate  perfume  of  fruit  by  over-icing. 
The  hod  carrier  drinks  iced-water  as  he  mounts  the  ladder  ; 
and  some  stupid  persons,  who  regard  every  novelty  as  a  re- 
form, conceived  the  idea  of  distributing  it  in  pails  to  the  poor 
of  New  York,  to  keep  them  from  squandering  their  money 
on  champagne />«/>//. 

The  teeth  of  the  negroes  are  good,  here  as  everywhere. 
I  jocosely  offered  a  young  dusky,  with  a  magnificent  set  of 
teeth,  a  thousand  pounds  for  them.  He  declined,  saying  that 
the  money  would  be  no  good  to  him  without  his  teeth.     Thus 


ST.    KITT  S.  I  I  5 

do  the  improvident  negroes  reject  the  golden  opportunities 
within  their  reach  of  becoming  miUionaircs. 

A  little  barber's  shop,  at  which  the  Commodore  (who  is 
justly  vain  of  his  personal  appearance)  stopped  to  have  his 
hair  cut,  was  the  most  diminutive  tonsorial  emporium  and 
sanctum  of  the  artist  in  capillarity  I  have  ever  seen.  It  held 
but  two  persons  besides  the  impresario  pcrrucchiere.  It  was 
such  a  shop  as  one  sees  in  Pompeii.  I  wasn't  permitted  to 
enter,  because — as  the  Commodore  bald  out  at  me  when  he 
assumed  the  sacrificial  chair  of  denudation — there  was  too 
little  hair  in  the  small  room  already.  The  barber  gave  him  a 
careful  cut,  parting  the  herbage  in  a  thin  line  behind,  which, 
expanding  near  the  crown  into  a  spherical  baldness,  looked 
like  a  palm-tree — a  slender  trunk  and  spreading  upper  devel- 
opment. Uncle  John  styled  it  the  tropical  palm-tree  cut. 
It  will  soon  become  familiar  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Sunday 
promenade,  where  it  will  surely  achieve  great  social  conquests. 
During  the  August  cruise  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club  it 
will  be  irresistible. 

The  negro  women  seem  to  greatly  outnumber  the  men. 
We  saw  no  white  women  in  the  streets,  but  plenty  of  black, 
who  arc  coarse,  repulsive  creatures.  They  speak  luiglish  in 
a  sort  of  gibberish,  difficult  to  be  understood  by  those  un- 
familiar with  the  patois.  The  Basse  Terre  dialect  is  a  sort  of 
Basseterred  English.  As  Vve  walked  along  amid  the  multi- 
tude of  fruit  hucksters,  we  were  addressed  as  "  werr)'  purty^ 
genlemen,"  whereupon  it  was  observed  that  the  portly  Com- 
missioner carried  his  head  a  trifle  higher,  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  striking  manly  beauty  was  not  unappreciated  by  the 
fair  se.x  of  Basse  Terre. 

We  had  provided  an  extensive  supply  of  elaborate  fishing 
tackle,  intending  to  capture  quantities  of  the  speckled  beau- 
ties (I  believe  that  is  the  usual  description  of  fish — dried  cod 


Il6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK, 

and  such — in  the  newspapers),  to  eke  out  the  provision  of 
salted  fish  in  our  ship's  stores,  but  thus  far  had  been  unable  to 
lure  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  briny  deep  (another  favorite 
rural-journalistic  expression).  The  wary  dolphin  shunned 
our  seductive  squid,  trawling  astern,  and  the  flying-fish  only 
came  aboard  when  he  blundered  in  his  flight,  like  a  bank 
president  ignorant  of  extradition  treaties  with  foreign  lands. 
But  we  were  rewarded  at  last  for  our  piscatorial  investment. 
We  caught  a  big  fish — a  shark.  He  was  an  ugly-looking  fel- 
low, about  six  feet  long,  and,  when  hauled  on  deck,  seized  a 
belaying-pin  thrust  in  his  jaws,  with  the  muscular  action  of  a 
Frankfort  Hill  charcoal-man  munching  peanuts  at  a  circus. 
The  sailors  put  a  slip-noose  around  his  tail  and  hoisted  him 
to  the  boat-davits,  where  the  Commodore  administered  a 
dose  of  pellets  from  his  revolver  which  soon  settled  the 
shark's  hash,  and  made  him  matter  for  a  negro  chowder. 
The  negroes  eat  stewed  shark,  but  roasted  monkey  is  their 
great  delicacy.  Uncle  John  claimed  that  the  pistol  was 
loaded  with  Cockle's  pills,  which  are  sure  death.  There  is  a 
strong  rivalry  between  them  and  James'  pills  among  us,  both 
medicines  having  determined  advocates. 

Sharks  are  numerous  hereabouts.  They  are  as  thick  as 
shyster  lawyers  around  a  Police  Court.  A  few  weeks  ago,  a 
dead  mule  was  towed  out  for  bait,  and  a  shark  eighteen  feet 
long  captured.  If  this  success  attended  an  ordinary  St.  Kitt's 
animal,  what  would  have  been  the  result  if  one  of  our  re- 
nowned/'^i-/-^^^'//?/;;^  army  mules  had  been  employed  ?  With 
some  braying  examples  of  this  kind  for  bait,  a  shark  a  hun- 
dred feet  long  at  least  ought  to  be  taken.  Yet  I  suppose  it 
ought  to  be  a  dead  bait — the  army  mule  is,  for  that  matter. 

Sunday  morning,  mellow  sounds  of  the  church-going  bell 
came  out  over  the  water,  waving  invitation,  before  we  had 
breakfasted.     We  let  them  wave.     M.  DeLile  sent  aboard  a 


ST.    KITT'S.  117 

great  basket  of  roses,  among  them  some  fine  specimens  of 
the  Mart'chal  Nicl.  They  were  large  and  fragrant,  but 
seemed  to  lack  the  dewy  freshness  of  our  exquisite  flowers  at 
home.  Abraham  Brooks,  gardener  in  charge  of  the  public 
park,  also  sent  us  some  choice  products  of  floriculture. 
Brooks  does  not  sneer  at  the  gardener's  "  claims  of  long  de- 
scent." Although  a  black  man,  he  is  a  lineal  descendant  of 
"  the  gardener  Adam  and  his  wife,"  and  a  blood  relation  of 
Baron  Tennyson  D'Eyncourt.  With  these  flowers,  we  re- 
placed the  lilies  that  had  adorned  the  saloon,  our  Lily  ]5ower, 
from  Bermuda.  We  were  loath  to  part  with  these  souvenirs, 
but  they  had  withered.  Though  the  tangible  flower  may 
whither,  the  lily  emblem  will  never  fade  from  memory. 

Skimming  over  the  roadstead  surface,  glistering  in  silvery 
flashes  under  the  sunbeams,  were  numerous  pelicans,  diving 
beneath  the  waves  as  some  unwary  fish  approached  the  sur- 
face, and  arresting  the  malefactor  for  violating  the  Sunday 
law.  The  pelicans  are  strong-winged,  aquatic  birds,  with 
bills  as  long  as  those  of  attorneys  in  a  contested  will  case,  and 
they  were  evidently  foraging  for  their  breakfast.  I  suppose, 
as  this  is  a  sabbatical  region,  the  pelicans  do  no  cooking  on 
Sunday,  but  eat  cold  victuals.  'Tis  the  early  bird  that  catches 
the  worm,  and,  as  these  prowlers  were  up  betimes,  it  is  prob- 
able that  they  had  already  caught  the  too  previous  worm, 
and  were  using  it  for  fish  bait.  A  cormorant  receiver  couldn't 
gobble  a  wrecked  corporation  with  greater  ease,  by  allow- 
ance of  the  Court,  than  these  sea-hawks  swallowed  the  fish 
whole.  They  must  be  favored  with  powerful  digestive  or- 
gans, unimpaired  by  the  habitual  use  of  Cockle's  pills,  the 
gourmand's  after-dinner  persuader. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  drove  out  among  the  mountains, 
passing  several  extensive  sugar  estates.  The  principal  ex- 
port of  St.  Kitt's  is  sugar,  though  there  is  considerable  pro- 


Il8  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

duction,  and  some  consumption,  of  shocking  bad  rum.  The 
roads  are  excellent,  but  the  scenery  not  particularly  interest- 
ing. The  drive  along  the  crest,  overlooking  the  sea-coast  to 
windward,  affords  a  view  of  the  ocean,  spread  out  as  far  as 
the  eye  can 'reach — and  farther — but  we  have  become  familiar 
with  that  appearance,  and  it  is  no  novelty.  Fruit  trees  are 
plenty.  At  one  place,  out  in  a  settlement  among  the  moun- 
tains, near  the  Moravian  church,  from  the  steeple  of  which  a 
flag  was  flying,  we  saw  cocoa-palm,  orange,  lime,  mango, 
and  bread-fruit  trees  growing  side  by  side.  We  met  a  few 
whites,  in  carriages,  and  a  great  many  negro  pedestrians  on 
the  road.  The  negroes  appeared  to  be  clean,  generally  well 
dressed — white  being  the  favorite  color — and  they  were  cheer- 
ful and  polite,  invariably  touching  their  hats  when  we  met. 
There  was  an  assortment  of  head-coverings,  as  varied  as  lay- 
ers of  boarding-house  butter.  We  encountered  but  one  reg- 
ulation black  silk  hat,  a  venerable  tile,  about  contempora- 
neous with  the  style  of  the  ex-mayor's  funeral  hat — vintage 
of  1804.  The  younger  children  were  clad  in  garments  too 
abbreviated  for  adaptation  to  the  latitude  of  Paris  Hill  in 
December  ;  but  all  wore  a  holiday  look,  and  some  nothing 
else.  Many  were,  no  doubt,  going  to,  or  returning  from 
church. 

The  population  of  St.  Kitt's  is  Protestant,  the  whites  (ex- 
cept a  few  Catholics,  of  French  and  Portuguese  blood)  attend- 
ing the  Church  of  England,  while  the  blacks  are  Wesleyans 
and  Moravians.  There  are  not  a  hundred  Catholic  negroes 
on  the  island.  The  growth  of  Peter's  pence  here  must  be 
stunted  and  unproductive,  and  the  drippings  of  the  sanctuary 
flaccid.  Much  religious  enthusiasm  prevails  among  the  ne- 
groes, and  to  this  is  due  the  prevalence  of  the  Methodistical 
form  of  worship.  Talking  back  is  permitted  in  the  Episcopal 
Church,  it  is  true,  but  the  response  is  limited  by  irksome  re- 


ST.    KITT'S.  119 

straints  ;  while  in  the  Wesleyan,  it  is  a  sort  of  free  fight  with 
the  devil,  and  every  one  has  a  right  to  pitch  in.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  that  this  facihty  of  demonstration  is  conducive  to 
religious  enthusiasm.  The  Methodist  is  very  much  in  earn- 
est. A  washerwoman  (who  informed  us,  as  a  matter  of  per- 
sonal interest  to  Uncle  John,  in  whom  she  discovered  a  pious 
affinity,  that  "  de  countenans  was  de  index  ob  de  mind  ") 
edified  us  greatly  by  her  glib  elucidations  of  the  true  Chris- 
tian doctrine.  She,  too,  had  suffered  for  conscience  sake. 
For  some  time  a  resident  of  St.  Thomas  (the  Danish  island), 
where  her  worldly  affairs  were  more  prosperous  than  at  St. 
Kitt's,  her  sensitive  feelings  were  so  shocked  by  the  band 
playing  in  the  Square  Sunday  afternoons  that  her  soul  be- 
came black  with  horror.  She  shook  the  dust  of  profane  St. 
Thomas  from  her  voluminous  feet,  and  returned  to  her  native 
isle,  where  the  odor  of  sanctity  permeates  the  Sabbath  day 
with  pungent  African  redolence. 

St.  Kitt's  is  famous  for  monkeys.  *'  Don't  you  want  to 
buy  a  monkey  ?  "  is  a  favorite  inquiry  of  the  truant  boy. 
We  saw  none  during  our  drive.  We  went  along  roads  where 
they  sometimes  appear,  but  they  were  probabl)^  attending 
afternoon  service,  or  remained  within  doors,  and,  if  they  saw 
us,  were  shocked  at  the  profanation  of  the  day,  driving  out 
for  recreation.  The  monkey  is  doubtless  a  highly  religious 
personage,  who  wouldn't  endanger  his  salvation  by  shuffling 
dominos  Sunday,  or  playing  waltzes  on  the  piano  to  pro- 
voke divine  wrath. 

Yesterday  being  St.  Patrick's  Day,  the  Commodore  or- 
dered the  yacht  to  be  decorated  with  flags  (called  "  dressing 
ship"),  in  honor  of  the  anniversary.  The  significance  of  the 
holiday  apparel  was  well  understood  ashore.  Mr.  ICldridge 
noticed  it  when  he  paid  us  a  visit,  and  seemed  to  regard  it 
as  nothing  unusual  ;  althoutrh  I  thought  it  a  handsome  thing 


I20  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

in  the  Commodore  (who,  unfortunately,  has  no  Irish  blood 
in  his  veins,  and  doesn't  belong  to  the  Land  League)  to  think 
of  paying  this  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Ireland's  patron  saint, 
who,  it  may  be  stated  in  passing,  was  a  cousin  of  my  ancestors. 
Judge  Semper,  puisne  Judge  of  St.  Kitt's,  whom  we  had  met 
the  day  before,  sent  us  a  bountiful  supply  of  fresh  fruits  and 
vegetables,  which  were  quite  toothsome,  particularly  the 
Brussels  sprouts,  tender  as  a  boarding-school  miss.  At  din- 
ner, while  the  first  regular  toast — "  The  Day  We  Celebrate" 
— was  being  drunk,  the  ever-ready  Commodore  was  inspired 
to  dash  off  the  following  epigram  : 

The  Judge  has  sent  aboard  some  fruit 

And  garden-sauce  to  thrate  us, 
Our  motto  and  the  day  they  suit. 

You  find  them  Semper  praties. 

I  wondered  whether  the  Rose,  Shamrock  and  Thistle 
Society  of  Utica  was  sitting  down  to  supper,  after  the  good 
old  fashion,  or  whether  the  second-growth  Hibernian  Vice- 
President  would  be  too  lazy  to  order  the  representative  of 
bonnie  Scotia  to  "  flee  awa  "  and  make  preparations  for  the 
feast.  We  did  the  best  we  could.  We  remembered  friends 
at  home  in  our  potations,  wet  the  shamrock,  and  sang  the 
"Wearing  of  the  Green."  I  had  a  green  flag  waving  over 
my  state-room  door  all  day  ;  and  at  night  I  dreamt  of  Kil- 
larney,  and  rode  through  the  Gap  of  Dunloe  on  a  hard-trot- 
ting pony. 

I  had  intended  not  to  mention  that  two  toasts  were  offered 
and  responded  to  at  dinner.  Uncle  John  insisted  upon  hav- 
ing one  of  them  proposed,  so  that  he  could  compare  his  mag- 
nificent effort  at  the  Washington's  Birthday  dinner  with 
whatever  I  might  say,  inadequately,  on  the  same  topic.  I 
think  he  is  a  little  vain  of  his  success,  and  wanted  an  oppor- 


ST.    KITTS.  12  1 

tunity  to  compare  notes  to  my  disparagement,  I  wouldn't 
consent,  however,  unless  he  agreed  to  speak  to  the  toast  of 
the  day,  which  he  did,  and  two  speeches  were  made  instead 
of  one.  He  said  we  wanted  no  more  any  way,  as  the  Com- 
modore and  Commissioner  couldn't  speak  well  enough  for 
St.  Patrick,  although  they  might  do  for  George  Washington. 
I  fancy  that  Uncle  John  was  a  little  fox}'  in  the  matter,  and 
not  only  wanted  to  put  me  down,  comparatively  speaking, 
but  desired  also  to  show  us  that  he  could  be  facetious  if  he 
pleased,  though  he  was  greatly  in  earnest  in  his  last  effort. 
He  made  a  good  oration,  and  I  told  a  couple  of  stories  in 
illustration  of  what  he  said  in  his  other  speech  about  heroism, 
which  required  no  aid  of  words,  for  the  incidents  themselves 
were  interesting  without  rhetorical  adornment.  Uncle  John 
has  promised  to  write  out  his  remarks  for  me,  and  if  he  does, 
I  will  send  them  in  one  of  these  letters  with  my  own.  I  do 
not  wish  to  deprive  him  of  the  full  benefit  of  the  glory  he  has 
earned  by  making  a  better  speech  than  I  can. 

A  British  mail  steamer  arrived  in  port  to-day  from  South- 
ampton, having  touched  at  St.  Thomas.  It  brought  one 
letter  for  us,  forwarded  from  that  point  to  the  Commissioner, 
containing  news  from  home.  It  was  a  protest  on  a  promis- 
sory note  endorsed  for  a  friend.  This  steamer  goes  as  far  as 
Trinidad.  The  line  receives  a  subsidy  of  ^^95,000  per  annum. 
It  was  originally  ;^200,ooo  sterling.  Government  subsidies 
are  unpopular  with  us,  but — as  crapulous  Hirondelle  re- 
marked, touching  the  propriety  of  using  the  abbreviation  I). 
D.  against  his  name  on  the  police  record — a  great  deal  may 
be  said  on  both  sides,  if  you  have  money  to  hire  a  good 
lawyer. 

This  island,  like  all  the  West  India  group,  is  of  volcanic 
origin,  and  extinct  craters  are  to  be  seen  in  several  places. 
The  highest  is   Mount  Misery,  4,300  feet  above  the  sea,  the 


122  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

peak  of  which  is  generally  hid  in  clouds.  We  couldn't  see 
it ;  but  the  Commodore  remarked  that  it  wasn't  worth  while  ; 
we  saw  misery  enough  in  New  York  without  coming  to  the 
West  Indies  to  find  it. 

Our  sailing-master  was  anxious  to  see  monkeys  in  their 
homes,  and  trudged  off,  guided  by  some  boys,  in  search  of 
the  animals ;  for  whom  sailors  evince  a  strange  partiality. 
Upon  his  return,  he  reported  that  the  exploration  had  been 
in  vain  ;  he  saw  plenty  of  wild  goats,  but  no  monkeys,  though 
he  heard  them  chattering  in  the  woods.  The  Commissioner, 
however,  who  had  gone  ashore  unaccompanied,  claimed  that 
he  had  been  more  successful. 

"  Monkeys  !  "  said  he,  "  why,  I  saw  droves  of  them  up 
Monkey  Mountain,  where  I  drove  wdth  my  French  friend, 
Mr.  Menteur.  Wending  our  way  along  the  road,  we  made 
a  sharp  turn,  and  came  suddenly  upon  a  group,  which  seemed 
to  be  awaiting  us.  The  leader,  a  venerable  old  monkey,  with 
a  white  moustache,  and  black  dress-coat,  advanced,  and,  tak- 
ing off  his  hat — "  "Come  now,"  interrupted  Uncle  John, 
"what  are  you  giving  us?  That's  too  strong  altogether  ; 
monkeys  don't  wear  hats.''  "Fact,  I  assure  you,  gentle- 
men," replied  the  Commissioner,  in  his  suave,  Board-of- Ap- 
pointment-monthly-meeting  manner,  "  it  was  a  stove-pipe 
hat  of  Geninuine  make.  The  wearer  was  probably  a  visitor 
from  Montserrat,  where  the  native  black  population  speaks 
Irish,  and  he  probably  borrowed  it  from  somebody  who  had 
been  in  the  procession  to-day.  As  I  don't  speak  English 
when  traveling  abroad,  where  nobody  ever  takes  me  for  an 
American,  I  said  nothing,  but  simply  acknowledged  the  salute 
by  touching  my  hat,  after  the  manner  of  Paddy  Burns  at  the 
Patriarchs'  Ball.  The  patriarchal  monkey  held  out  a  paper, 
which  I  took,  and  found  to  be  a  petition  for  the  passage  of  a 
prohibitory  liquor  law,  for  the  reason  that  there  was  too  much 


ST.    KITT"S.  123 

of  '  the  crater  '  in  St.  Kitt's.  A  younger  member  of  the 
tribe,  with  a  short  black  pipe  in  his  mouth,  pushed  the  old 
fellow  aside,  rather  angrily,  and  handed  me  a  card,  on  which 
was  written,  in  the  ancient  Celtic  character,  '  better  lava 
crater  alone.'  Evidently  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  them  ;  and  yet  the  monkeys  ought  to  have  been 
unanimous  for  prohibition,  for  a  drunken  monke)'  alwaj's 
makes  an  ass  of  himself. 

"  I  was  soon  surrounded  by  a  concourse  of  the  tribe  of 
Cebidai,  who  thrust  into  my  hand  papers  of  difTerent  shapes 
and  sizes,  and  of  varied  complexion  ;  some  fresh  as  the  blush- 
ing cidbutantc  at  her  coming-out  party,  others  frayed,  tattered, 
and  soiled  as  the  reputation  of  an  Ohio  politician.  I  didn't 
retain  these  papers,  but  I  remember  the  contents  of  some  of 
them. 

"  There  was  a  petition  for  the  appointment  of  Jocko, 
Chairman  First  Ward  Committee,  as  Inspector  in  the  Custom 
House  ;  prospectus  of  a  Company  to  work  the  Baby  Mine, 
capital  stock  ten  millions  of  pounds  sterling,  to  be  perma- 
nently invested  and  retired  as  a  sinking  fund  ;  tickets  tor  the 
raffle  of  a  butter-dish  at  a  church  fair  ;  votes  for  a  pair  of 
worked  slippers,  to  be  presented  to  the  most  popular  clerg}-- 
man  at  Christmas  ;  portrait  of  Pyke,  candidate  for  President 
of  Monos  Mountain  ;  card  of  Adolphc  Singe,  Pcmiquicr 
Franqais,  shave  five  cents,  with  a  glass  of  lager  and  a  cigar 
thrown  in  ;  copy  of  the  Illustrated  Ncics,  containing  photo- 
graphic view  of  an  earthquake,  taken  while  the  earth  was 
trembling,  by  our  own  artist,  sent  out  expressly  for  the  occa- 
sion, at  great  expense  ;  subscription  paper  for  foreign  mis- 
sions to  convert  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Martinique  to  Chris- 
tianity ;  check  on  the  Canal  liink  at  Albany  ;  ivory  ball, 
marked  16,  looked  like  the  pocket  edition  used  at  the  Schuyt 
Forler   Club  ;  circular  of  Francis   Muri:)h}-,   temperance  lee- 


124  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

turer  and  brother  in  Christ — terms  moderate  ;  subscription 
for  Parnell  Fund. 

"  Then  there  was  a  lot  of  handbills  and  placards,  which  had 
evidently  been  torn  from  rocks  and  trees  :  Use  Gorman's  Co- 
coaine  ;  Try  Nurbett's  Sapolio  ;  Setting  Moon  Stove-polish  ; 
Scorner's  Safe  Cure  for  Sunburn — go  out  when  it  rains  ;  Seal 
of  North  Carolina  in  red  wax  ;  Pogers  &  Reet,  embroidered 
Snow-shoes  ;  Bargains  in  Dry  Goods,  at  Bowen  McNamee  & 
Co.'s;  A.T.Stewart,  Laces  and  Embroideries,  Broadway, 
west  side,  above  Chambers  St. ;  Use  Detergent — removes 
mountains;  Try  James'  Pills — cures  hams  ;  Meeting  of  Mozart 
Hall  Committee,  season  of  moonshine  ;  Florida  Water — good 
for  corns  ;  Pond's  Extract — for  drawing  teeth ;  Trask  pam- 
phlet against  use  of  tobacco  ;  Smith's  Toy  Pistols — warranted 
sure  ;  Smoke  the  Five-cent  Syinplocarpiis  ;  Torrents  of  Aperi- 
ent, and  many  others. 

"  I  saw  one  debilitated  old  monkey  riding  a  donkey,  on 
which  there  was  a  pannier,  with  a  sack  slung  across.  One 
side  seemed  to  be  bulging  out  with  a  load,  while  the  other 
was  collapsed  and  wrinkled,  apparently  empty,  and  yet  they 
balanced,  as  if  equally  heavy  at  both  ends.  Upon  examina- 
tion, I  found  that  one  end  of  the  bag  held  twenty  cocoanuts, 
while  the  other  contained  a  scrap  of  paper  with  a  paragraph 
from  a  Governor's  message. 

"The  venerable  leader,  first  taking  a  white  necktie  from 
his  pockef,  which  he  put  around  his  neck,  pointed  to  what 
seemed  to  be  a  large  house  in  a  field  near  the  roadside,  and 
beckoned  me  to  follow  him.  I  did  so,  and,  much  to  my  sur- 
prise, found  that  the  imposing  structure  was  a  pile  of  books 
— the  Revised  New  Testament,  with  leaves  uncut. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  see  by  your  looks  that  you  don't  be- 
lieve me.  I  anticipated  as  much  from  your  own  constitu- 
tional infidelity,  which  makes  you  doubters.     But  here  is  the 


ST.    KITT  S.  125 

evidence.  I  bought  some  of  the  raffle-tickets  and  brought 
them  with  me,  feeHng  certain  that  you  would  question  my 
word.  Look  at  them  !  Eccc  tabulce  fortunce  !  I  produce 
the  corpus  dclecti  in  court,  and  anybody  that  wants  to  mux- 
commence  a  prosecution  for  violation  of  the  law  against 
gambling." 

Here  the  Commissioner  plunged  his  massive  hand  into  a 
capacious  pocket,  and  produced  some  bits  of  figured  cards, 
which  he  handed  to  the  Superior  of  the  Order  of  Domino- 
cans.  "Ha!  ha  !"  shouted  Uncle  John,  looking  at  them, 
*'  Ha  !  ha  !  I  have  you  now.  These  are  some  of  Simpson's 
pawn  tickets,  dated  February,  1884.  They  represent  that 
old  oroide  watch  and  plated  chain  you  raised  money  on  to 
defray  your  expenses  on  this  cruise." 

The  Commissioner  shrank  abashed.     He  was  detected.     He 
had  put  his  hand  in  the  wrong  pocket. 


CHAPTER   X. 

AMONG  THE  ISLANDS. 

Lunacy — The  Old  Fire-Laddie — St.  Patrick's  Day  Orations  :  Ireland  : 
A  Brave  Girl  :  Michael  Ouigley  :  A  Heroic  Woman — Montscrrat^ 
Ethiopian  Celts — Guadaloupe — The  Caribs — Wind-Rainbow — Do- 
minica— St.  Pierre — A  Great  Loss. 

St.  Pierre,  Martinique,  March  21,  1884. 

As  I  was  going  to  St.  Kitt's, 

I  met  a  man  who'd  lost  his  wits. 

"  Where  are  my  wits  ?  "  he  asked  of  me. 

"  Perhaps  you'll  find  them  in  the  sea." 

As  I  was  coming  from  St.  Kitt's, 
I  met  the  man  who'd  lost  his  wits. 
"  Pve  found  my  wits,"  he  said  to  me, 
"Beneath  the  moonshine  in  the  sea." 

These  are  nursery  rhymes  by  Uncle  John.  Apparently 
they  have  no  meaning,  and  are,  therefore,  the  genuine  article. 
I  fancy,  however,  that  they  are  intended  as  sarcasm,  and  that 
I  am  the  object,  for  the  Boanerges  of  dominos  remarked 
that  any  one  who  could  write  such  nonsense  as  my  scribblings 
must  have  lost  his  wits.  His  suppositive  comment  implied 
that  I  had  become  moon-struck,  in  midnight  meditations  on 
deck,  during  these  glorious  nights  of  the  past  week.  He  was 
good  enough  to  make  a  partial  retraction  afterward,  knowing 
that  I  took  his  remark  to  heart,  for  I  had  a  guilty  conscious- 
ness that  he  was  not  far  astray  in  his  estimate  of  my  mental 
condition.     There  is  such  a  thing  as  acquiring  lunacy  by  ab- 


AMONG   THE   ISLANDS.  12/ 

sorption.  I  have  been  associated  with  Managers  of  an  Insane 
Asylum,  and  dementia  may  be  predicated  of  a  willingness  to 
serve  in  that  office.  He  took  advantage,  however,  of  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  my  expressing  a  favorable  opinion 
of  the  homoeopathic  system  of  medicine,  to  say  patronising!}- 
that  I  had  recovered  my  mind.  I  suppose  it  was  on  the 
principle  of  similia,  siniilibus  curajitur — there  is  so  much 
moonshine  in  medicine.  For  that  matter,  there  is  a  huge 
admixture  in  all  the  connate  learned  mystifications  v.hich  rule 
the  world  :  law,  physic,  and  divinity. 

The  French  Consul,  Monsieur  Derivin,  came  aboard 
while  we  lay  at  Basse  Terre.  Although  he  speaks  English 
fluently,  he  afforded  the  Commodore  an  opportunity  to  con- 
verse in  French,  which  the  gallant  flag-officer  utters  with 
intense  activity  and  profound  accentuation  at  apj)ropriate 
festive  occasions. 

St.  Kitt's  was  originally  a  French  island,  but  it  has  been  in 
English  possession  over  two  hundred  years.  It  is  now 
French  onl}'  in  territorial  nomenclature.  All  the  streets  and 
places,  as  well  as  the  sugar  estates,  have  French  names,  but 
are  not  in  French  possession.  The  estates  have  retained  the 
designations  given  them  by  owners  expelled  generations  ago, 
and  succeeded  by  those  of  another  race,  speaking  a  different 
tongue.  Had  an  American  Common  Council  been  in  con- 
trol, the  names  would  have  been  changed  many  times  ere 
this. 

Water  of  superior  quality  was  furnished  at  a  reasonable 
rate:  about  three-fourths  of  a  cent  a  gallon,  including  the 
cost  of  delivery  aboard.  I  testify  to  its  superiority,  not  from 
personal  knowledge,  but  from  information  and  belief.  It  was 
brought  alongside  in  a  lighter,  and  pumped  from  casks 
through  the  yacht's  hose.  Tiie  operation  was  superintended 
by  the  Commissioner  and  Uncle  John,  whose  experience  as 


128  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

fire  laddies  (I  believe  that's  the  newspaper  designation  :  it's 
either  laddies  or  ladders)  came  in,  to  play  away  No.  41  !  They 
were  like  old  war-horses  at  the  sound  of  the  bugle-call.  The 
gurgle  of  the  water,  flowing  through  coupled  lengths  of  hose, 
aroused  the  slumbering  ardor  of  the  disbanded  volunteer ; 
and  to  see  Uncle  John  stamping  around  the  deck,  recalled  the 
glorious  period  of  his  flame-subduing  victories,  when,  as 
Foreman  of  Engine  28,  his  resonant  trumpet  was  the  fiery 
Excalibar  of  the  Department. 

In  my  last  letter  I  prornised  to  send  you  the  responses  to 
the  two  toasts  offered  at  dinner  on  St.  Patrick's  Day,  if  Uncle 
John  would  write  his  out ;  and  he  has  just  brought  the  notes 
to  me  in  an  unintelligible  shape.  They  are  scrawled  on  the 
backs  of  discharged  envelopes,  washing-lists,  and  tailors' 
bills,  in  such  confusion  that  I  can  scarcely  decipher  them. 
But  I  will  do  the  best  I  can.      Here  is  the  speech  : 

"  Mr.  Chairman  :  I  doubt  my  ability  to  do  justice  to  this 
subject.  The  English  have  been  trying  to  conquer  Ireland 
for  several  hundred  years,  and  I  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
get  away  with  her  in  one  night.  I  might  if  I  were  in  Con- 
gress, and  could  put  the  Green  Isle  in  an  appropriation-bill. 
I  have  great  regard  for  Ireland,  and  for  Irishmen,  particularly 
if  they  are  women.  I  regard  the  Irish  as  the  handsomest 
race  in  the  world,  and  it  always  makes  me  angry  to  see  the 
caricatures  in  the  illustrated  newspapers  which  are  so  grossly 
unjust  to  a  people  that,  for  physical  strength,  endurance, 
comeliness,  and  quick,  native  wit,  is  not  equaled  by  any,  un- 
less it  be  the  American,  and  that  is  a  mixed  race,  largely 
Celtic  in  composition.  The  denizen  of  the  rural  districts, 
who  has  never  traveled,  and  who  forms  his  idea  of  the 
Irishman  from  the  caricature,  and  not  from  personal  obser- 
vation, will  not  agree  with  me,  but  my  assertion  is  true  never- 
theless. 


AMONG   THE    ISLANDS.  1 29 

"  I  will  not  speak  of  the  ancient  g.lorics  of  Ireland  during 
her  golden  age,  when  the  arts  and  sciences  flourished  :  when 
there  was  an  advanced  state  of  civilization,  as  can  be  seen  by 
the  picturesque  ruins,  showing  the  highest  order  of  architec- 
ture, which  abound  on  the  island.  The  origin  of  her  peculiar 
round-towers  is  unknown,  the  hordes  that  overran  the  island 
having,  not  only  partially  obliterated  the  marks  of  culture  and 
refinement,  but  totally  destroyed  the  records,  so  that  her  early 
history  is  lost,  and  only  comes  down  to  us  in  fragmentary 
tradition.  But  though  the  remote  past  is  shrouded  in  ob- 
livion, there  are  modern  examples  of  greatness,  springing  up 
under  repressive  persecution,  that  show  what  Ireland  would 
be  were  she  an  independent  nation,  '  great,  glorious,  and  free, 
first  flower  of  the  earth,  first  gem  of  the  sea.' 

"  With  all  the  disadvantages  under  which  she  has  labored, 
she  has  produced  some  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  our  da\'. 
The  greatest  English-speaking  orators  were  Burke,  Sheridan, 
and  O'Connell.  There  were  others  who,  while  they  do  not 
rank  with  these  incomparable  masters  of  language,  hold  a 
distinguished  place  as  rhetoricians.  Before  the  legislative 
union  with  England,  the  Irish  Bar  was  unrivaled  in  its  display 
of  brilliant  forensic  eloquence.  Who  can  peruse  the  works 
of  the  genial  essayists.  Goldsmith  and  Steele,  the  pungent 
satires  of  Swift  and  Sterne,  the  poetry  of  Moore,  the  novels 
of  Lever,  Griffin,  Banim,  Lover,  Miss  Edgeworth,  and  Carle- 
ton,  without  being  impressed  with  the  genius  that  sur- 
mounted all  the  obstacles  interposed  to  intellectual  develop- 
ment. As  for  soldiers,  the  Irishman  is  naturally  a  fighter. 
The  only  man  that  ever  lived  able  to  cope  with  Napoleon  was 
an  Irishman.  It  is  unnecessary  to  particularize  the  Irishmen 
who  fought  for  America,  for  wherever  there  is  fighting  going 
on  in  any  part  of  the  world,  in  the  armies  of  France. 
Spain,  Austria,  or  any  of  the  great  military  powers,  there 
9 


I30  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

you  will  find  Irishmen.  They  supply  the  Stage  with  a  large 
proportion  of  its  best  actors  ;  they  excel  in  all  the  ornamental 
arts. 

"  The  Irish  are  expansive  travelers.  You  find  them  in 
every  land  mentioned  in  history,  ancient  or  modern,  sacred 
or  profane.  They  gave  their  names  to  countries  whither  they 
emigrated  ;  history  and  geography  combine  to  perpetuate  the 
record.  Some  of  the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament  are  named 
after  an  ancient  Irish  family,  the  Maccabees.  Judas  McCabe 
was  a  valiant  warrior  in  his  time  ;  so  was  Alexander  of  Mac- 
Edonia  (probably  the  name  was  McDonagh,  spelt  improp- 
erly). Then  there  was  the  famous  O'Dyssey,  written  by  an 
Irish  schoolmaster,  H.  O'Mer,  member  of  an  elder  branch 
of  the  Greek  family.  Among  the  early  colonists  from  Erin 
were  the  MacRobii,  who  settled  in  Ethiopia.  They  got  into 
a  little  quarrel  with  the  aboriginals,  which  is  kept  up  by  their 
descendants,  for  the  Hibernian  and  the  Ethiopian  are  yet  to 
be  found  arrayed  on  different  sides  politically.  They  were  in 
Asia  as  well,  the  MacCrones  being  a  powerful  sept.  The 
MacCrones  were  no  doubt  a  branch  of  the  Cronins  of  Slieve- 
namish,  who  adopted  the  aristocratic  Mac,  when  they  emi- 
grated and  settled  among  those  who  didn't  know  whether 
they  were  entitled  to  it  or  not.  It  is  popularly  supposed  that 
the  macaroni  of  the  Italians  takes  its  name  from  them,  but  it 
is  an  error.  That  delicious  food  was  invented  by  an  Irish 
baker  from  Nockamavaddy,  named  Michael  Rooney  (Mickey 
Rooney  for  short),  who  accompanied  Pope  Adrian  to  Rome 
and  conferred  this  inestimatable  boon  on  Italy.  But  the 
Italians  never  would  give  the  Irish  any  credit.  They  inter- 
fere with  them  whenever  they  get  a  chance.  The  McCanns 
of  Tartary  (improperly  spelt  Khan)  have  always  cut  a  fine 
figure,  with  an  immense  following.  The  invincible  chieftain 
Mark  O'Mahony,  made  a  raid  into  Germany  and  subjugated 


AMONG   THE   ISLANDS.  131 

a  warlike  tribe,  compelling  the  vanquished  to  adopt  his  name 
and  call  themselves  Marcomanni. 

"  The  most  magnificent  queen  tht-  world  ever  saw,  barring 
Sheba,  who  had  some  relations  with  King  Sol  O'  Mon  ;  or 
Semiramis  (I  acknowledge  that  she  wasn't  Irish)  was  the 
Egyptian  Clelia,  familiarly  known  as  Cle.  O'Patra.  Shake- 
speare wrote  a  play  about  her  and  Tony,  a  Roman  lover. 
Some  persons  '  don't  believe  that  Shakespeare  writ  that 
play,'  but  they  are  cranky  theorists,  afflicted  with  Bacon- 
mania,  a  sort  of  mental  trichinosis. 

"  The  Irish  have  spread  all  over  the  world,  except  Boston, 
where  few  of  them  are  to  be  found.  They  reached  the  ut- 
termost limit  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Terra  del  Fuego 
was  discovered  by  an  Irish  giant,  Pat.  O'Gania,  and  his  pos- 
terity are  known  as  Patagonians  ;  only  they  don't  know  how 
to  spell  their  own  names,  but  transpose  the  o  and  the  a.  They 
live  on  the  Straits  of  McGellan.  The  Micmacs  are  in  Canada. 
The  Irish  family  of  O'Regon  went  early  to  the  western  coast, 
and  named  a  river  which  flows  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Then 
there  are  the  MacKinaws  in  the  interior  west  (a  corruption  of 
the  McNalls)  ;  and  in  New  York  State  we  have  the  tribe  of 
O'Neidas. 

"  Among  the  renowned  physicians  of  antiquity  was  INIac- 
Haon,  son  of  Esculapius,  who  must  have  married  an  Irish 
wife ;  and  the  child  took  his  mother's  name  as  preferable 
to  the  plebeian  cognomen.  Mac  probably  used  his  father's 
as  a  prcenomen,  and  had  his  business  cards,  printed  by  a 
type-writer:  Esculapius  McHaon,  M.D.  Office  hours  op- 
tional. 

"  As  statesmen,  the  Irish  stand  pre-eminent.  It  is  well 
understood  that  the  Democratic  and  Republican  organizations 
of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  are  controlled,  respectively,  by 
John  Kelly,  John  J.  O'Brien,  and  Hugh  McLaughlin,  aided 


132  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

by  the  tremendous  voting  power  of  the  Mac-Hines.  This 
political  influence  is  felt  as  far  off  as  Japan,  where  the  rank  of 
the  despotic  ruler  is  designated  by  an  Irish  name.  It  was 
originally  O'Macquade,  but  the  Japanese  shifted  the  prefix 
to  a  suffix  ;  and  properly,  too,  for  the  genealogical  O',  mean- 
ing grandson,  naturally  follows  Mac,  which  means  son,  and  a 
grandson  is  not  apt  to  be  born  before  his  father.  So,  instead 
of  the  former  Omaquade,  the  Emperor  is  known  as  the  Mi- 
quado  of  Japan.  The  Irish  rule  everywhere  except  in  their 
own  country. 

"  I  could  go  on  at  great  length  to  demonstrate  the  all- 
engrossing  expansion  of  the  Irish  in  the  direction  of  ofiices, 
but  I  dislike  to  occupy  the  time  of  this  distinguished  convo- 
cation. I  will  conclude  by  offering  a  sentiment,  which  needs 
no  words  of  adulation,  '  The  Irish  Woman  ;  '  and  call  upon 
my  friend,  the  honorable  representative  from  Ireland,  who 
wasn't  born  in  his  native  land,  to  respond." 

I  said  (with  an  imported  Killarney  blush,  mantling  to  the 
crown  of  my  brow,  like  the  morning  sun  rosily  suffusing  the 
Matterhorn)  :  "  Mr.  Chairman  :  After  the  brilliant  philological, 
geographical,  historical,  and  archeological  essay  of  my  learned, 
flowery,  and  gallant  friend,  the  flame-subduing  Archivist,  I 
have  some  hesitation  in  speaking,  for  I  know  that  comparison 
with  his  splendid  achievement  would  redound  greatly  to  my 
oratorical  disadvantage.  I  doubt  my  ability  to  do  justice  to 
this  subject.  This  is  a  chronic  disability  with  the  after-dinner 
speaker,  as  you  have  learned  by  its  modest  repetitive  asser- 
tion. I  suspect  Uncle  John  has  a  selfish  motive  underlying 
his  call  upon  me,  but  I  will  utilize  it,  notwithstanding  his  dis- 
ingenuousness.  We  can  often  put  questionable  appliances 
to  good  use.  The  bronze  door  that  once  swung  in  a  sensual 
heathen  temple  now  adorns  a  portal  in  the  central  shrine  of 
pure  Christianity.     I  distrust  the  sardonic  smile  that  faintly 


AMONG   THE    ISLANDS.  1 33 

touches  Uncle  John's  mocking  lip,  but  I  will  cmplo}-  his 
ironical  invitation  to  say  something  responsive,  in  the  same 
vein  of  thought  which  marked  his  treatment  of  the  topic  at 
our  last  feast.  I  will  give  other  illustrations  of  the  just  truth- 
fulness of  his  felicitous  tribute  to  the  heroism  of  woman.  1 
not  only  agree  with  him  that  in  moral  courage  she  is  vastly 
superior  to  man,  but  I  believe  that  in  physical  braver)-  she  is 
not  inferior.  We  often  read  in  the  newspapers  of  the  deter- 
mination displayed  by  women  in  facing  burglars,  but  the  e.x- 
amples  of  men's  daring  are  not  so  abundant.  I  am  sure  that 
the  becoming  timidity  of  bearing  in  woman  proceeds  more 
from  instinctive  delicacy,  sensitive  refinement,  and  regard  for 
the  proper  conventionalities  of  society,  than  from  any  lack  of 
intrepidity. 

"  An  incident  came  within  my  knowledge,  a  short  time 
since,  which  carries  out  this  view,  and  although  a  rare  occur- 
rence, because  of  the  exceptional  attendant  circumstances,  it 
will  serve  to  typify  the  stoutness  of  heart  that  may  lie  within 
a  fragile  form. 

"  Out  in  the  northern  wilds  of  the  Adirondacks,  remote 
from  a  settlement,  is  a  mountain  retreat,  occupied  as  a  summer 
home  by  a  gentleman  and  his  granddaughter,  and  frequented 
by  hunters,  and  those  seeking  the  health  that  a  balmy  atmos- 
phere, spiced  with  gum-distilling  trees,  bears  on  healing 
wings.  Two  visitors  had  been  out  hunting,  far  from  this  re- 
treat, in  a  dense  forest,  containing  but  an  imperfect  and 
indefinite  trail.  They  became  separated,  and  as  night  ap- 
proached, the  younger,  appreciating  the  necessity  for  keep- 
ing the  faint  trail  in  view  while  daylight  lasted,  hastened  his 
return,  supposing  that  his  companion  would  take  the  same 
course.  He  reached  the  retreat  about  nightfall,  but  the  elder 
sportsman,  less  vigorous,  unable  to  bear  up  under  fatigue, 
l^SS^^  behind,  and  had  not  arrived  when  the  occupants  of 


134  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE    MONTAUK. 

the  house  retired.  But  one  did  not  retire  ;  a  young  girl  who 
had  spent  months  exploring  the  wilderness  and  knew  how  dif- 
ficult it  would  be  for  a  person  unfamiliar  with  its  recesses  to 
follow  the  feeble  trail. 

"At  a  late  hour,  she  called  up  her  colored  maid  to  accom- 
pany her,  and  donning  a  huntress  dress,  sallied  forth,  rifle  in 
hand,  into  the  darkness.  She  took  the  precaution  to  send  a 
stable-boy  with  a  boat  up  the  adjacent  lake,  to  be  used  in 
case  an  accident  had  happened  which  would  render  its  em- 
ployment necessary.  No  one  in  the  house  knew  of  her  inten- 
tion ;  no  one  else  had  the  thoughtfulness  to  entertain  it,  nor 
the  courage  to  put  it  in  execution. 

"  Attended  by  her  maid,  then,  she  plunged  fearlessly  into 
the  gloomy  forest,  fording  streams,  clambering  over  rocks, 
and  forcing  a  way  through  thick  undergrowth,  on  her  merci- 
ful mission.  After  a  long  search,  a  faint  response  came  to 
the  hailing-call  she  kept  up,  and  her  view-halloo  was  feebly 
echoed  from  a  clump  of  bushes  ;  where  she  found  the  object 
of  her  search,  exhausted,  dazed,  unable  to  move  without 
assistance.  The  boat  was  called  and  soon  arrived  at  a  con- 
venient vicinity,  and  after  the  application  of  restoratives,  the 
sufferer  was  placed  in  it  and  carried  to  the  retreat,  arriving 
about  daybreak. 

"  Night  in  the  wilderness  is  a  shivering  time  at  best.  Gaunt 
trees  outstretch  uncanny  limbs  in  shadeful  dejection  ;  rebel- 
lious twigs,  forced  aside  in  finding  a  path,  strike  back  in  the 
face  with  startling  sting  ;  the  air  is  filled  with  frightful  vague- 
ness, more  oppressive  because  the  shadowy  influence  takes  no 
definite  form.     There  are  but  few  who  are  not  cowards  in  the 

dark : 

"  '  Like  one  that  on  a  lonesome  road 
Doth  walk  in  fear  and  dread, 
And,  having  once  turned  round,  walks  on 
And  turns  no  more  his  head.' 


AMONG   THE   ISLANDS.  I  35 

"  We  may  reason,  but  fear  is  deaf  to  reason.  How 
many  are  there  who  would  like  to  spend  the  ni<j^ht  in  a  church- 
yard, and  yet  it  is  a  holy  place  where  evil  spirits  may  not 
come.  Not  the  dangers  that  are  palpable,  but  the  unknown 
and  unseen  are  the  most  trying  to  the  nerves.  There  are 
shudderous  terrors  of  ambiguity. 

"  I  regard  that  night-journey  in  the  primeval  forest,  by  a 
delicate,  tenderly-nurtured  young  lady,  as  an  admircible  ex- 
hibition of  the  intrepid  resolution  that  makes  heroines,  and  I 
put  it  on  record  as  an  example  of  woman's  bravery. 

"  But  the  toast  is  to  the  Irish  woman,  and  my  heroine  is 
a  slender  young  American  girl,  with  a  healthy  mind  in  a 
healthy  body,  invigorated  by  exercise  in  the  open  air  and  the 
innocent  freedom  of  the  salubrious  forest. 

"The  Irish  woman  is  brave,  honest,  unselfish,  and  self- 
sacrificing.  The  attributes  which  commanded  the  respect  of 
successive  invaders  of  Ireland  formulated  the  saying,  Hibcmis 
ipsis  Hibcrniorcs^  for  it  was  the  commanding  influence  of 
Irish  women  that  made  the  settlers  of  various  nationality 
'  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves.'  One  of  the  super- 
stitions of  the  ancient  Irish  was  that  a  child's  disposition 
would  be  influenced  by  the  first  object  on  which  its  hand  was 
placed,  and  it  was  the  custom  of  the  brave  mothers  of  that 
heroic  race  to  cause  a  sword  to  be  placed  in  the  hand  of  the 
new-born  male  child,  so  that  valor  should  be  the  prevailing 
characteristic  in  life. 

"  The  episode  I  am  about  to  present  is  such  a  striking  in- 
stance of  fortitude  that  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  indulged  in  occu- 
pying some  little  time  in  its  relation. 

"  During  the  Rebellion  of  I/QS,  a  secret  insurrectionary 
organization,  having  for  its  object  disenthrallment  from  Eng- 
lish rule,  existed  throughout  Ireland.  In  the  town  of  Kil- 
kenny, there  lived  a  well-to-do  woolen-draper  named  Michael 


136  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Quigley,  a  reputable  business-man,  living  with  his  family,  a 
wife  and  three  children,  in  apartments  over  his  shop,  in  the 
main  street,  directly  opposite  the  Court  House,  where  a  per- 
manent court-martial  was  in  session  to  try,  with  drum-head 
haste,  those  accused  of  complicity  in  the  rebellion.  Quigley 
was  Secretary  of  the  Section  of  United  Irishmen  having  their 
headquarters  at  Kilkenny.  Through  the  instrumentality  of 
spies  and  informers  employed  by  the  Government,  his  official 
connection  with  the  revolutionists  was  discovered,  and,  one 
day,  while  at  his  counter,  he  was  arrested  and  hurried  to  the 
Court  House  for  trial ;  having  barely  time,  as  he  passed  out 
of  his  home,  to  whisper  to  his  wife,  '  May  God  be  with  you 
always  ! '  He  was  tried  within  an  hour,  found  guilty,  sen- 
tenced to  be  executed  the  next  morning,  and  committed  to 
prison. 

"  It  was  customary  to  carry  out  these  sentences  on  the 
spot — there  was  short  shrift  for  the  insurgents — but  an  ex- 
ception was  made  in  the  case  of  Quigley,  in  order  to  give  him 
time  to  consider  a  proposition  made  to  pardon  him  if  he 
would  reveal  the  names  of  the  confederated  conspirators. 
This  temptation  he  spurned  indignantly  all  through  the  night. 
He  could  not  be  induced  to  save  his  own  life  by  the  betrayal 
of  his  trust  and  the  imperilment  of  others.  Early  in  the 
morning,  he  managed  to  convey  to  his  wife  a  communication, 
written  on  his  shirt-collar.  It  was  this  laconic  message : 
*  I  will  die  ;   I  will  not  be  a  traitor.' 

"  The  bereaved  wife  received  the  message,  cowering  be- 
side a  desolate  hearth-stone,  surrounded  by  her  weeping, 
terror-stricken  children.  She  was  a  poor  weak  woman.  She 
thought  of  the  horrible  fate  awaiting  her  husband,  to  be  hung 
within  sight  of  his  own  door.  She  felt  the  impending  shadow 
of  the  ghastly  gallows,  falling,  a  dread  shape,  athwart  her 
threshold,  smothering  her  heart  beneath  a  frightful  pall.    She 


AMONG   THE    ISLANDS.  1 37 

thought  of  her  children  about  to  be  thrust  forth  on  the  cold 
charity  of  the  world,  perhaps  to  die  of  want  by  the  wayside, 
for  confiscation  of  all  goods  and  chattels  was  one  of  the  pen- 
alties of  treason  to  the  English  Government.  The  natural 
promptings  of  nature  would  be  to  say  to  her  husband,  '  Save 
yourself!  save  us  !  save  your  wife  and  children  from  despair; 
what  is  all  the  world  to  us  without  you  !  ' 

"  But  what  was  her  answer,  conveyed  to  Ouigley  by  the 
same  favoring  hand  that  brought  his  implied  interrogation  ? 
To  the  noble  declaration  of  the  husband,  '  I  will  die ;  I  will 
not  be  a  traitor,'  she  made  this  sublime  response  :  '  Better 
make  one  widow  than  one  hundred.' 

"  An  incident  was  connected  with  the  execution  of  Michael 
Quigley  which  is  interesting  to  those  of  his  faith,  who  under- 
stand the  importance  attached  to  the  administration  of  the 
rites  of  the  Church  in  extremity.  He  had  asked  for  the  visi- 
tation of  a  priest,  but  this  request  was  curtly  denied.  '  Death 
without  benefit  of  clergy,'  was  the  savage  punishment  for  his 
offense.  He  was  not  bereft  of  this  consolation,  however. 
Directly  opposite  the  jail-door,  before  which  the  gallows 
stood,  was  an  arch  containing  a  small  room,  in  which  was  a 
window.  By  a  circuitous  route,  a  priest  and  two  pious  men 
entered  this  room  unperceived,  and  remained  concealed  there, 
to  act  upon  a  preconcerted  signal.  As  Michael  Ouigley  was 
led  forth  to  execution,  he  bent  his  head  and  repeated  the 
prescribed  words  of  the  act  of  contrition.  Then  he  lifted 
his  eyes  to  the  window  in  the  archway,  and  as  he  did 
so,  the  curtain  was  slightly  raised ;  he  bent  his  head  again, 
and  at  that  moment  the  concealed  priest  administered  the 
form  of  absolution  of  the  Church  ;  which  fell  on  the  heart 
of  Michael  Ouigley  like  the  dew  from  Heaven,  reviving, 
strengthening,  full  of  inefTable  consolation.  And,  fortified 
with  this   benediction,    the  hero  mounted  the  scafTold  and 


138  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

met  a  patriot's  death  with  the  undaunted  firmness  of  a  mar- 
tyr. 

"  As  Michael  J.  Barry  wrote  : 

"  But  whether  on  the  scaffold  high 
Or  in  the  battle's  van, 
The  fittest  place  where  man  can  die 
Is  where  he  dies  for  man  ! 

"  Should  Ireland  ever  achieve  her  independence,  and  be 
peopled  by  free  men  and  free  women,  there  should  be  erected 
in  the  town  of  Kilkenny,  a  noble  monument,  lifting  its  head 
to  the  skies,  proud  of  this  inscription,  '  I  will  die  ;  I  will  not 
be  a  traitor  :  '  and  beneath  it,  in  letters  of  gold,  gleaming 
lustrously  for  all  time  in  *  the  light  of  Freedom's  day,'  this 
other  legend,  to  commemorate  woman's  heroism,  '  Better 
make  one  widow  than  one  hundred.'  " 

We  sailed  from  St.  Kitt's  the  morning  of  the  i8th,  with  a 
clear  sky  and  fair  wind ;  passing  Nevis,  which  has  nothing  of 
interest  to  recommend  it  except  good  mutton.  But  we  didn't 
come  abroad  for  chops  and  saddles.  We  can  get  them  at 
Washington  Market  ;  and  I  know  the  Alsatian  would  furnish 
quite  as  good  mutton  ;  though  perhaps  not  so  sheep,  (No 
•charge  !)  If  we  should  return  this  way,  we  may  visit  the 
island  to  test  this  reputed  excellence — revcnons  a  nos  inoiitons, 
as  it  were. 

I  had  a  great  desire  to  visit  the  island  of  Montserrat,  and 
regretted  that  the  two  weeks'  detention  from  fogs  and  head- 
winds at  New  York  forced  us  to  give  the  go-by  to  points 
where  our  arrival  was  awaited,  no  doubt,  with  breathless 
anxiety.  Montserrat  has  an  especial  claim  to  consideration  ; 
I  had  a  consanguineous  yearning  to  press  its  volcanic  soil. 
The  steward  informed  me  that  a  large  contingent  of  the  ne- 
groes on  the  island  speak  the  Irish  language  ;  adhering  to  it 


AMONG   THE    ISLANDS.  1 39 

with  stubborn  pertinacity,  stoutly  rcsistini;  English  lingual 
invasion.  The  story  told  is  that,  nianx'  \-cars  ago,  a  sla\e 
ship  was  captured  by  a  British  cruiser,  and  the  slaves  landed 
on  the  island,  in  charge  of  a  master-at-arms  who  chanced  to 
be  an  Irishman.  lie  taught  them  his  native  tongue,  which 
they  have  scrupulously  retained  to  this  da}' ;  affording  an  ex- 
ample of  patriotic  constancy  that  puts  to  shame  the  Fifth 
Ward  of  Utica,  where  Gaelic  has  tamely  yielded  to  Saxon 
aggression,  until  it  is  now  rarely  heard,  sa\'e  on  election  da)', 
when  John  O'Davy's  mellow  brogue  incites  his  compatriots 
to  vote  the  Republican  ticket,  early  and  often.  If  we  could 
get  up  an  emigration  from  Montserrat  to  St.  Lawrence 
County,  the  political  complexion  of  that  Cimmerian  precinct 
might  be  changed.  It  always  has  been  intensely  black,  but 
an  infusion  of  Montserrat  would  enlighten  it  some.  This 
would  offset  the  colonization  of  Indiana  from  Kentuck}-. 
Here  is  a  point  for  the  consideration  of  the  infrequent  Demo- 
crat of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

My  good  old  father,  of  happy  memory,  ^\•ho  regarded 
every  man  as  a  brother,  no  matter  what  his  color  or  creed, 
had  a  quaint  "way  of  addressing  his  colored  brethren  as 
"  smoked  Irishmen."  It  was  regarded  as  a  bit  of  facetious- 
ness  on  his  part,  but  I  find  now  that  the  appellation  was  to 
some  extent  literally  correct.  This  island  is  peopled  with 
smoked  Irishmen.  The  heart  of  the  Honorable  Dennis  Burns. 
of  Sligo — whilom  adept  legislator,  now  learned  philomath, 
engaged  in  encouraging  the  revival  of  Gaelic  among  the 
Knickerbockers  of  New  York — would  swell  with  pride  could 
he  but  wander  amid  these  forest-clad  declivities,  and  hear  the 
soft  Corkagian  Doric  floating,  in  affinitive  modulatit)n.  through 
the  green  groves  of  Montserrat.  Savoitnu-cii  dic/is/i.  Ciishla 
viachrcc.     Fion  Slan.     NabocklisJi ! 

Guadaloupe  is  a  large  French  island,  which  has  a  town  of 


I40  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

considerable  importance,  Point  a  Pitrc,  with  a  good  harbor; 
which  we  decided  not  to  enter,  as  Martinique  is  the  most 
noted  island  under  French  government,  and  we  could  there 
get  a  better  idea  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  Western 
France.  There  is  a  famous  volcanic  mountain  here,  with  a 
crater-peak  five  thousand  feet  high,  called  the  Souffriere. 
The  summit  is  rarely  seen,  being  almost  constantly  enveloped 
in  clouds. 

Guadaloupe  was  discovered  by  Columbus,  at  the  same  time 
with  Dominica,  and  was  named  after  Our  Lady  of  Guadaloupe, 
in  accordance  with  a  vow  made  to  some  monks  of  Estrama- 
dura.  It  was  here  that  the  Spaniards  found  vestiges  of  can- 
nibalistic habits,  and  concluded  that  the  inhabitants  were  the 
fierce  Caribs  who  devastated  the  "islands  of  their  gentler  and 
more  peaceful  neighbors.  The  name  cannibal  came  from 
here.  These  warlike  Caribs  made  predatory  excursions  in 
their  big  canoes  for  hundreds  of  miles.  Their  weapons  were 
bows,  and  arrows  of  shell  poisoned  with  the  juice  of  a  certain 
herb.  It  was  their  habit  to  make  descents  on  the  islands, 
carry  off  the  handsomest  and  youngest  of  the  women,  whom 
they  kept  as  servants,  and  capture  the  men,  to  be  killed  and 
eaten  at  leisure.  Commenting  upon  this  gentle  peculiarity  of 
the  noble  savage.  Uncle  John  said  that  eating  the  men  showed 
a  perverted  taste,  when  the  women  would  be  more  tender  and 
succulent.  He  accounted  for  it  by  surmising  that  the  Caribs 
must  have  lived  at  cheap  boarding-houses  and  acquired  a 
fondness  for  bull-beef.  While  passing  Guadaloupe,  we  wit- 
nessed a  magnificent  sight ;  an  immense  rainbow,  gorgeous 
in  vivid  prismatic  hues,  majestic  in  arching  encompassment  ; 
its  base  resting  apparently  at  the  foot  of  a  towering  moun- 
tain, while  the  span  extended  far  over  the  peak  until  lost  in 
the  sea  beyond.  It  covered  with  iridescent  glory  the  rugged 
mountain  side,   dimly  visible   through   a   diaphanous   robe. 


AMONG   THE   ISLANDS.  141 

\vhich  smoothed  the  ungainly  angles  into  graceful  lines,  bcau- 
tif\ing"  with  tinted  embellishment  the  unsightly  irregulari- 
ties. 

"  Ah  !  "  said  the  Commissioner  (crossing  his  hands  behind 
his  back  after  the  manner  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Ilelcnaj,  "  how 
that  rainbow,  enchanting  to  view,  but  delusive  and  evanes- 
cent, typifies  the  vanity  of  human  pursuits  !  We  gaze  upon 
the  radiant  mists  with  pleasure,  but  they  are  ephemeral  like 
all  the  blandishments  of  life.  What  are  pleasures  but  rain- 
bows ?  They  disappear  with  indulgence,  and  leav^c  nothing 
behind,  save,  perhaps,  vain  regrets." 

"  Excuse  me.  Commissioner,"  I  interrupted,  "  there  I 
think  you  are  wrong.  Some  joys  that  we've  tasted  leave 
unfading  rainbows  in  the  heart." 

"True,"  replied  the  reviser  of  assessed  real  estate  valua- 
tions, "  but  we  are  material  beings,  after  all,  and  cannot  live 
on  fancy.  The  rainbow  gazers  are  visionary,  unpractical  and 
unsuccessful.  Vapor,  howsoever,  resplendent,  is  not  to  be 
compared  to  roast  beef  in  a  nutritious  point  of  view.  It  is 
decidedly  comfortable  to  draw  a  check  (that  will  be  honored) 
for  the  butcher's  bill." 

"  There  spoke  the  practical,  common  sense  utilitarian," 
said  I  ;  "it  resolves  itself  into  bank  stock,  bonds  and  mort- 
gages, houses  and  lands.  As  for  railroad  stocks,  many  of 
them  are  of  rainbow  composition,  and  nothing  more.  Yet 
the  man  of  imagination  has  certain  pleasures  denied  to  him 
who  is  completely  engrossed  in  the  sordid  accumulation  of 
pelf.  The  only  advantage  possessed  by  the  money-grasper 
is  his  pachydermatous  insensibility,  his  obtuseness  and  crass 
ignorance,  which  protect  him  from  the  pains  that  men  of  fincr 
and  more  sensitive  organization  may  feel." 

"  A  tough  hide  is  a  useful  thing  in  the  rough-and-tumble 
fights  of  the  world,"  remarked  the  Commissioner. 


142  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

"  Still,"  said  I,  "  the  rainbow  is,  as  you  say,  a  fit  emblem 
of  disappointment.  It  affords,  too,  an  illustration  of  the  un- 
reliability of  appearances  and  the  proneness  to  error  in  esti- 
mates of  our  neighbor.  How  often  does  the  rainbow  throw 
a  deceptive  glamour  !  We  look  at  a  man  just  as  we  view  that 
hill-side.  In  the  softening,  roseate  tinge,  it  appears  bright 
and  smiling,  while  were  we  able  to  see  it  through  the  reveal- 
ing medium  of  reality,  we  might  discern  some  gloomy  cave, 
in  which  black  care  sits  like  a  ravening  wolf  laired  in  its  secret 
heart.  It  is  hard  to  know  what  is  in  another's  breast.  A 
man  may  be  brave,  self-reliant,  carrying  his  own  burden,  in 
reticent  strength,  without  seeking  a  friendly  resting-place  to 
lean  upon  for  compassionate  relief,  yet  inwardly  grief-stricken 
and  despondent.  The  lip  may  laugh  jocund  glees  without, 
while  sorrow  vibrates  voiceless  dirges  in  sunless  recesses 
within.  Bright  flowers  float  on  the  surface  of  the  tarn 
which  holds  bitter  waters  brooding  in  darkling  depths  be- 
low." 

"  These  be  goot  worts,  as  doughty  Sir  Hugh  Evans  says," 
interposed  Uncle  John,  somewhat  impatiently  ;  "  but  what 
kind  of  toffy  are  you  spreading  ?  " 

I  took  no  notice  of  the  ungracious  interruption,  but  con- 
tinued, in  my  own  simple,  unpretentious,  monosyllabic  lan- 
guage. 

"You  are  right,  though.  Commissioner.  We  ought  to 
be  practical  and  common  sense.  Away  with  romance  !  A 
bas  le  Tr Oliver e  !  Vive  V  Avar c  !  Vogue  la  galere  !  Let  us 
turn  the  honest  penny  !  A  penny  saved  is  a  penny  earned  ! 
A  penny  a  day  is  £\.  \os.  ^d.  a  year.  Early  to  bed,  early  to 
rise,  makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise.  Hurrah  for  B. 
Franklin  !  Don't  let  us  waste  time  in  enjoyment  !  Let  us  be 
economists  !  Of  what  use  flowers,  lights,  and  incense  in  re- 
ligious observance  ?    We  can  pray  without  them.     Why  have 


AMONG   THE   ISLANDS.  1 43 

balls,  parties,  and  festivals  ?  Waste  of  time  and  money. 
What  is  the  use  of  music  ?  There  is  no  sound  so  sweet  as 
the  clink  of  gold.  Why  inhale  the  perfume  of  joyous  life  ? 
Sell  the  ointment  and  give  to  the  poor  ;  but  give  nothing  un- 
less from  the  proceeds  of  somebody  else's  ointment.  Don't 
let  us  look  up  at  the  luminous  rainbow  in  the  sky  ;  cast  our 
eyes  down,  and  we  may  find  a  farthing  rolling  in  the  muddy 
gutter  !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Commissioner,  "  and  if  you  were  hungry 
you  would  be  glad  to  pick  it  up.  You  might  starve  looking 
at  rainbows." 

"  It  is  an  old  superstition,"  I  added,  "that  whoever  traces 
the  rainbow  to  its  foundation  finds  a  crock  of  gold.  I  fear 
that  is  where  my  treasure  lies.  I  have  been  looking  for  it 
many  a  day  beneath  visionary  arcs,  which  receded  as  I  ap- 
proached, and  vanished  entirely  before  I  could  stake  out  the 
foundation-place  of  my  fortune.  Yet  the  time  spent  in  fol- 
lowing these  enchantments  is  not  lost.  One  still  has  the 
rainbow  memories.  *  'Tis  better  to  have  loved  and  lost  than 
never  to  have  loved  at  all.'  " 

"  That's  all  very  fine,"  growled  the  Commissioner,  "  but  it 
won't  pay  the  rent." 

"  And,"  added  Uncle  John,  "talk's  cheap,  but  it  takes 
money  to  buy  ice-cream  for  your  girl." 

This  was  the  argumcntuni  ad honi.  It  brought  the  matter 
home  with  telling  force.  I  capitulated,  remarking,  "  Right 
you  are,  brethren  !  But  I  won't  give  up  my  rainbow  never- 
theless. Perhaps  my  fortune  is  before  me  now — in  Guada- 
loupe.  But  it's  just  my  luck  ;  we're  not  going  to  land  there. 
However,  I'll  coin  a  couplet  for  you.  Commissioner,  which 
you  may  give  to  the  New  York  Sun.  The  editor  is  a  scholar, 
and  won't  attribute  it  to  some  statesman  who  palms  off  quo- 
tations as  originalities  ;  which  he  can  do   with   impunity,  as 


144  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

the  American  public  rarely  reads  books.     This  is  yours,  and 
you  may  take  a  patent  on  it : 

"  Who  would  his  fortune  surely  make, 
Must  quickly  rainbow  views  forsake." 

"  I  don't  know  how  it  is  with  the  rest  of  you,"  remarked 
the  Commodore,  "  but  my  throat  is  a  little  dry  through  the 
ears.  We  have  been  grumbling  about  not  having  enough  of 
wind,  but  it  seems  to  be  blowing  a  tongue-gale  on  this  quar- 
ter-deck."    Descendanius. 

For  many  days  past,  we  have  been  looking  for  the  oft-be- 
praised,  benignant  trade-winds,  which  are  said  to  blow  with 
unvarying  steadiness  from  one  quarter  in  these  latitudes.  We 
had  formed  of  them  an  idea  of  the  rainbow  stripe,  but  experi- 
ence has  pricked  the  prismatic  bubble.  They  were  reported 
as  gentle  gales,  which  filled  the  sails  with  constant  breeze  to 
glide  o'er  seas,  uninterrupted  by  vexing  storms,  entirely  ex- 
empt from  loitering  calms.  Yesterday  this  budding  anticipa- 
tion of  halcyon  wavelets  was  nipped.  It  was  a  series  of 
alternate  calms,  when  the  yacht  hung  motionless  "as  a 
painted  ship  upon  a  painted  ocean,"  and  sudden  bursts  of 
wind  which  set  us  tossing  and  plunging  like  the  Sunday 
buggy  over  a  Hoboken  pavement.  We  could  hardly  remain 
in  our  berths  during  the  night,  and  when  the  wind  lulled  in 
the  morning  there  was  a  sullen  calm,  succeeded  by  another 
outburst,  that  kicked  up  as  much  disturbance  as  a  handsome 
clergyman  of  affectionate  habits  in  a  well-regulated  sewing- 
society.  We  had  all  this  disagreeable  variety  while  passing 
Dominica  (a  British  island,  interesting  from  its  boiling  lake, 
and  scenery  of  unsurpassed  grandeur),  but  at  length,  after 
weary  bufifetings,  we  dropped  anchor  in  the  roadstead  of  St. 
Pierre,  Martinique.  A  mass  meeting  was  held  and  a  resolu- 
tion adopted  unanimously  that  the  trade-winds  were  a  hum- 


AMONG   THE    ISLANDS.  1 45 

bug.  The  Commissioner  sui^gested  tliat  perhaps  the  trades 
had  organized  a  Trades'  Union,  and  were  on  a  strike  ;  but 
Uncle  Jolin  thought  the  Commissioner  had  swallowed  them 
in  his  early  morning  walks  on  deck.  This  was  not  a  reason- 
able hypothesis,  however,  for,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
the  trade-winds  are  unchanging,  while  the  Commissioner 
often  changes  his  breath. 

Our  first  visitors  after  tlie  pilot  left,  were  naked  negro 
children,  seated  in  the  bottoms  of  short  boats,  looking  like 
coffins  cut  in  two;  proposing  to  dive  after  silver  coin,  and 
afford  us  some  water-color  studies  in  African  anatoni}-.  For- 
tunately they  were  all  boys.  We  threw  a  few  pieces  over- 
board, which  they  seized  with  great  dexterity  before  they 
were  many  feet  below  the  surface.  These  natant-gymnasts 
refused  to  dive  for  coppers,  for  they  knew  we  were  just  arrived 
and  had  in  our  possession  none  of  the  copper  coin  current  in 
Martinique  :  but  the  sailing-master  played  a  successful  trick 
on  them.  He  wrapped  an  English  half[)cnn\'  in  tin-foil  and 
threw  it  in  tlie  water,  where  it  was  seized  at  once  as  a  glitter- 
ing prize.  The  sailing-master  is  a  financier.  lie  engaged  in 
a  little  financial  legislation  on  his  own  account,  and  passed  an 
iict  making  foreign  copper  a  legal  tender. 

Greatly  to  our  regret,  the  Commissioner  left  us  here,  offi- 
cial engagements  compelling  him  to  return  to  New  York, 
where  Mayor  Edson  pined  for  his  concurrent  j)resence  at 
Cabinet  councils.  Before  leaving,  he  had  an  opportunitx'  to 
go  ashore,  where  his  commanding  presence  elicited  the  usual 
encomiums  from  ready-tongued  brunettes,  engaged  in  the 
sale  of  fish.  lie  bought  a  broad-brimmed  Panama  hat,  of 
true  curvilinear  beauty,  upon  which  we  held  a  council  of  the 
navy,  and  decided  that  it  was  becoming  to  his  fiorid  and  ex- 
pansive style  of  comeliness  ;  quite  an  approjiriate  tile  to  roof 
the  magnificent,  first  appearance,  moustache  which,  carefully 

lO 


146  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

nurtured  by  invigorating  sea  air,  and  watered  by  trade-wind 
spray,  had  attained  an  extraordinary  extent  of  hirsute  luxuri- 
ance. During  the  hot  July  days  next  summer,  that  hairy 
thatch  will  inspire  with  awe  the  street  Arabs  of  the  City  Hall 
Park,  who  will  take  the  wearer  to  be  some  rich  sugar-planter 
from  the  West  Indies,  who  sold  out  last  year,  and  will  impor- 
tune him  for  backshish. 

We  shall  miss  the  Commissioner  during  the  rest  of  our 
voyage,  for  a  more  intelligent,  genial,  companionable  gentle- 
man it  would  be  hard  to  find.  Fortunately  for  his  comfort, 
the  British  steamer  Barracouta,  which  plies  between  New 
York  and  the  tropics,  came  into  port  the  day  of  our  arrival, 
and  we  found  that  the  purser  was  Major  J.  E.  Colville,  for  a 
long  time  Superintendent  of  Quarantine  at  New  York.  In 
his  company,  the  Commissioner  cannot  fail  to  have  a  pleasant 
returning  voyage.  We  went  aboard  with  him  and  spent  some 
hours  tasting  the  hospitality  of  Captain  Evans,  and  left  him 
with  great  reluctance,  for  his  departure  causes  a  vacancy  in 
our  little  circle  which  we  cannot  but  look  upon  regretfully. 
There  .is  a  spice  of  selfishness,  too,  in  the  feeling,  for  now 
that  Uncle  John  has  no  formidable  antagonist  in  his  favorite 
game  of  dominos,  he  will  dominate  us  with  inexorable  and 
despotic  success. 

As  the  Barracouta  sailed,  she  swept  around  the  yacht,  firing 
a  gun  and  dipping  her  colors,  to  which  we  responded  with 
the  same  ceremonial.  And  so  we  lost  our  agreeable  mess- 
mate, who,  after  undergoing  the  discomforts  and  perils  of  the 
tempestuous  Gulf  Stream,  was  forced  to  leave  before  he  could 
enjoy  the  favoring  winds  and  smiling  waves  which  we  feel 
sure  will  attend  us  through  the  rest  of  our  cruise  in  the  trop- 
ics. Prosperous  gales  attend  thee,  and  take  thee  safely  to  a 
joyful  home,  good  friend  and  jolly  companion  ! 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  LONE  BIRD. 

St.  Pikrre,  March  21,  1884. 
Like  other  old  sailors,  wc  tarry  messmates  of  the  saloon  are 
imbued  with  the  superstitions  that  obtain  in  the  forecastle  ; 
many  of  which  are  familiar  to  the  reading  world,  and  some  to 
the  larger  world  that  finds  no  time  to  read.  Coleridge  has 
made  one  of  these  the  theme  of  his  immortal  poem,  "The 
Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner." 

"  At  length  did  cross  an  albatross  ; 
Thro'  the  fog  it  came  ; 
As  if  it  had  been  a  Christian  soul, 
Wc  hailed  it  in  God's  name." 

"  In  mist  or  cloud,  on  mast  or  shroud, 
It  perched  for  vespers  nine  ; 
While  all  the  night,  through  fog  smoke-white, 
Glimmered  the  white  moonshine." 

"  '  God  save  thee,  ancient  mariner, 

From  the  fiends  that  plague  thee  thus  ! 
Why  look'st  thou  so  ?  '     '  With  my  cross-bow 
I  shot  the  albatross.'  " 

The  second  day  after  we  sailed  from  Bermuda,  Uncle  John 
— who  is  detailed  for  duty  to  do  the  early  rising  act  for  all 
the  voyagers — going  on  deck,  as  is  his  wont,  to  sniff  the 
breeziness  of  misty  morn,  discovered  a  bird  perched  on  the 
foremast.     It  could  not  be  an  albatross  so  far  north,  and  it 


148  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MOXTAUK. 

had  no  aquatic  appearance  ;  so  he  surmised  that  it  must  be 
some  land  bird,  which,  weary  on  the  wing,  had  sought  this  rest- 
ing-place. It  may  have  been  allured  by  the  savory  odors  that 
exhaled  through  the  open  hatchway  of  the  cook's  galley,  where 
the  '"  Doctor  "  was  engaged  compounding  some  little  trifles 
of  beefsteak,  mutton-chops,  ham  and  eggs,  corned  beef  hash, 
stewed  kidneys,  mufhns,  wheat-cakes,  and  buttered  toast,  for 
the  simple  breakfast,  of  a  few  plain,  light  dishes,  which  he 
provides  daily  to  appease  our  languid  matin  appetite.  Evi- 
dently it  was  not  a  pigeon,  for  no  glossy  reflections  came  from 
burnished  neck  in  the  rays  of  sunshine  which  streamed  over 
it,  as  it  sat,  mute  and  immovable,  on  the  mast-head,  not 
even  prinking  and  arranging  its  plumage,  as  is  the  custom  of 
birds,  and  young  ladies  going  out  for  a  promenade.  The 
bird  was  of  a  dusky  color,  unrelieved  by  a  bright  feather, 
sombre  as  a  religious  recluse  ;  and  it  remained  through  the 
livelong  day,  in  mournful  isolation,  like  an  honest  man  at 
a  political  convention.  It  never  moved  a  wing,  not  even 
when  Uncle  John  startled  the  sea-gulls  with  the  exultant 
cry  of  Domino !  when  the  Commodore  held  a  count  of 
104  blocked  out  in  his  hand.  No  one  was  able  to  guess  at 
the  species  to  which  the  visitor  belonged.  All  surmises  were 
rejected  at  once,  except  the  suggestion  that  it  might  be  a  bird 
which  formerly  had  its  habitat  in  the  festive  coverts  of  the 
old  Seventh  Ward,  New  York,  known  as  the  Filakoo.  This 
hypothesis  received  some  consideration  until  the  Commis- 
sioner, who  is  an  east-side  archivist,  remarked  that  the  Fila- 
koo bird  was  an  extinct  variety  of  the  night-singer,  only  pre- 
served now,  in  cobwebbed  recesses,  among  faded  memories, 
in  the  traditionary  lore  museum  of  Old  Rounders. 

As  our  foretopmast  had  been  unshipped  for  the  voyage, 
no  topsail  could  be  bent,  and  the  sailors  having,  therefore,  no 
occasion  to  go  aloft,  the  bird  was  left  in  undisturbed  posses- 


THE    LONE    BIRD.  I49 

sion  of  the  stumpy  stick  which  rcphiccd  temporarily  the  ab- 
sent spar.  It  appeared  to  be  not  only  deaf  and  dumb,  but 
blind,  paying  no  attention  to  anything  that  occurred.  I-Lvcn 
the  vivid  flashes  from  resplendent  scarves  that  gleamed  along 
the  deck  in  Uncle  John's  wake,  like  phosphorescent  trails  in 
the  furrowed  sea,  failed  to  arouse  it  to  the  effort  of  esthetic 
contemplation.  The  boatswain's  whistle,  piping  to  meals, 
was  unheeded  ;  loud  clapping  of  hands  died  away  unnoticed, 
like  unsolicited  advice  ;  and  vociferous  shoo-shoos  proved 
bootless.  As  a  matter  of  course,  it  was  safe  under  the  a,»gis  of 
superstition,  for  no  one  dared  fire  at  the  intruder.  But  for  this, 
the  Commodore  would  soon  have  brought  it  down,  for  he  is 
a  famous  shot  with  a  revolver,  and  once  put  four  bullets  out 
of  five  in  the  head  of  a  dead  shark,  hung  up  to  the  davits — 
and  yet  he  was  nearly  two  feet  distant.  The  steward  sprin- 
kled crumbs  on  the  deck  every  evening,  but  they  failed  to 
tempt  the  solitary,  who  might  be  called  an  anchorite  had  it 
settled  on  the  anchor  instead  of  the  mast-head.  As  it  could 
see  none  of  the  bits  thrown  for  food,  it  might  be  described  as 
a  ce-nobite.  Uncle  John  said  this,  but  he  was  wrong.  Ceno- 
bites  do  not  dwell  alone,  while  our  bird  was  a  sort  of  a  sea- 
faring Simon  Stylites. 

The  poor  wanderer  was  the  object  of  much  curious  solici- 
tude. It  seemed  to  be  like  the  little  soldier,  bewailed  at  the 
Oriskany  centennial  celebration,  who,  "  a  hundred  years  ago 
to-day  did  come,  with  his  drum,  and  was  scalped  by  the  In- 
dians, with  tomahawk  and  gun,  so  far  away  from  home,  nn* 
boys,  so  far  away  from  home."  Mere  was  an  object  of  tender 
compassion  ;  and  Uncle  John,  who  was  the  original  discoverer 
and  claimed  a  patent,  was  full  of  theories  regarding  the  age, 
sex,  color,  nativity,  and  previous  statistical  condition  of  the 
immigrant,  who  had  sought  the  protection  of  the  ]\Iontauk,  a 
flag-ship  of  New  York's  pleasure   navy.     It  was  not  an  exile 


ISO  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

of  Erin,  for  no  land  bird  could  fly  so  far  across  the  Atlantic, 
were  its  wing  as  strong  as  Tim  Campbell's  hold  on  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  as  untiring  as  the  pertinacity  of  a  booth- 
skirmisher  at  a  church  fair. 

The  Commissioner  became  greatly  interested  in  the  for- 
tunes of  this  mysterious  fugitive,  and,  after  a  day  or  two,  re- 
solved to  try  the  effect  of  a  personal  appeal.  He  is  an  accom- 
plished rhetorician,  having  studied  oratory  in  a  renowned 
school,  the  Republican  General  Committee  of  New  York  City, 
cheek  by  jowl  with  Colonel  Karl  Spencer  and  Sefior  Tomaso 
Murphy  :  peripatetics  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  bar  Ly- 
ceum, although  sometimes  Platonists  of  the  Academy  of  Mu- 
sic at  ratification  meetings.  *'  I'll  try  a  little  verse  on  that  in- 
truder," said  the  Commissioner.  "  Let  us  see  whether  a  hun- 
dred lines  or  so,  in  the  persuasive  and  conciliatory,  burial-of- 
factional-differences  tone,  will  have  any  effect  on  the  bolter." 
Striking  his  most  effective,  large-chested  attitude,  and  with 
the  "  deestrick  "  ore  rotundo  of  a  born  leader  of  the  primary 
ballot-box,  the  Commissioner  addressed  the  bird  thus  : 

Oh  !  whence  com'st  thou,  sad,  silent  bird  ? 
What  vernal  breeze  thy  pinion  stirred 
To  waft  thee  to  us,  gentle  guest ! 
Why  art  thou  here  ;  what  is  thy  quest  ? 
Fly'st  thou  from  balmy  'Mudian  grove, 
Where  llowering  cedars  scent  the  air 
(With  rose-geranium  perfume  share), 
Far  from  thy  native  haunts  to  rove  ? 
Didst  perch  on  tree  of  calabash, 
W^here  Thomas  INIoorc  once  found  a  mash, 
And  made  his  limpid  verses  flow  ? 
True,  his  fond  essay  was  no  go, 
Yet  Thomas  was  a  famous  beau. 
"  From  rise  of  morn  till  set  of  sun," 
Hast  "  seen  the  mighty  Mohawk  run  ; " 
Watched  mournful  cypress  trailing  low, 
And  fireflies  in  dank  myrtle  glow  ; 


TIIK    LONE    BIRD.  151 

Hast  heard  Canadian  boatmen  row  ; 

With  other  strains  by  Moore  ditto  ? — 

If  not,  thou'rt  but  a  sonj^'ster  slow  I 

Borne  by  tierce  Hatteras'  hateful  gale, 

Didst  thou,  unwilling,  hither  sail, 

Torn  from  thy  home  in  ole  CarJine, 

Beneath  the  honey>uck!e  vine, 

Where  murmuring  lovers'  souls  entwine  ; 

Where  mocking-birtls  tlieir  throats  attune, 

And  whippoorwills  sing  to  the  moon  ? 

Or  from  the  rice  plantations'  tlood. 

With  Sambo  paihlling  in  the  mud  ; 

Or  from  the  Georgian  cotton  fields, 

Where  generous  nature  stuffing  yields 

To  line  the  nest  of  callow  young 

Who  live,  like  lawyers,  on  the  tongue  ? 

Or  from  Floridian  everglade. 

Where  Leon's  fruitless  search  was  made 

For  priceless  youth's  perennial  font 

(Now  advertised  as  Sozodont)  ; 

Didst  hold  on  orange  bough  debate 

And  try  conclusions  with  tliy  mate  ? 

Com'st  thou  from  where  tall  palms  upreach  ; 

Or  lly'st  from  maple,  birch,  and  beecii  ? 

Ylast  heard  melodious  madrigals 

In  whispering  paths  at  Trenton  Falls  ? 

Or  viewed  dark  clouds  gemmed  orbs  distil 

To  deck  with  beauty  Frankfort  Hill  ? 

Or  smelt  the  Schuyler  new-mown  hay  ? 

On  Deerfield  slopes  seen  lamljs  at  play  ? 

Or  merry  ^L^rcy  maidens  gay 

New  cider  strain  for  Lhicle  Gray  ? 

Didst  o'er  the  brink  of  fountain  lean 

To  lave  in  sulphured  Ilippocrene, 

Or,  like  a  reckless  pelican. 

Skim  scented  Richfield  Helicon  ? 

Didst  find  where  dainty  flowers  meet? 

— Fair  rose,  pure  lily,  pansy  sweet — 

WMicre  mists  on  mossy  bark  unite 

To  trickle  down  from  verd'rous  height, 

Fern-bordered  streamlets  crooning  creep 

Where  wintergreen  red  berries  sleep 


152  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

In  leaf-enfolded  nestling  place, 

Like  beauty's  blush  in  love's  embrace  ? 

Hast  skimmed  Gowanus'  noisome  tide, 

By  mud-scow  flotsam  rank  supplied  ? 

Fouling  the  iron  Taurus'  line 

With  jetsam,  feline  and  canine. 

Hast  viewed  the  Clifton  rocky  shore, 

Besprayed  amid  Niagara's  roar  ; 

At  Saratoga,  scanned  the  crowd, 

Pretentious,  vulgar,  silly,  loud  ; 

Sought  Newport,  where  grand  airs  we  see 

Of  cod-fish  aristocracy  ? 

Know'st  thou  where  wreath  of  green  hops  crov/n 

The  hills  that  swell  above  the  town  ? 

Hast  felt  o'er  Jersey's  buzzing  plain 

Its  nightingale's  persuasive  strain  ; 

Heard  young  frogs'  piping  cradle  song 

Mid  tree-toads'  midnight  chirping  throng  ? 

Did  odorous  oils  thy  bill  anoint 

At  aromatic  Hunter's  Point  ? 

Or  com'st  thou  from  the  tropic  isles 

Where  sensuous  summer  blandly  smiles  ? 

Art  dweller  in  that  sunny  clime 

Where  Angostura,  sugar,  lime, 

Kind  providence  yields,  for  avail 

To  blend  matutinal  cocktail  ? 

Dost  thou  the  weltering  mango  sip, 

And  beak  in  chirimoya  dip, 

From  pulpy  grapes  the  juice  express  ; 

Of  pink  guava  make  a  mess  ; 

Salad  of  avocado  pear. 

With  fruits  and  vegetables  rare  ? 

Hast  seen  the  St.  Kitt's  monkey  rude 

In  antics  show  much  latitude  ? 

Viewed  nose-ringed  coolies,  scanty  clad, 

Serve  heathen  gods  in  Trinidad  ? 

Heard  Lady  Jane  Smith  dances  call 

At  Dignity  Barbados'  ball  ? 

Or  com'st  thou  from  the  Spanish  Main 

Where  peace  and  plenty  seldom  reign  ; 

From  Orinoco's  emptying  streams, 

From  forests  of  gigantic  trees, 


THE    LONK   BIRD.  153 

Illumed  by  swift-winged  glancing  beams  ; 
Where  humming-birds  are  thick  as  bees — 
And  all  the  atmosphere  around 
Is  charged  electric  with  bright  sound. 
Hoy .'  oiticndo  Casic/laiio, 
Mira  !  muclto  crumb  01  viano. 
Dti  hast  nicht  Scln<jcizcr  Kasc,  mast  high, 
Fui'freunditDi,  hicr  nnd  pretzel,  fly  ! 
Come  o'er  the  sea,  birdling,  with  me, 
Shule,  ma  Iwuehal,  coUeeti  macJirec. 
Viens-tu  dc  Martinique,  7ioire  France, 
On  morde  vencmieux  fer-de-lance? 
Or  art  thou  baleful  bird  malign, 
Blown  up  from  equatorial  line  ? 
Art  thou  a  faithless  spouse,  expelled 
By  jealous  fury,  and  compelled 
Away  from  Ijed  and  board  to  hie. 
Vinculo  matrimonii  ? 
Dost  thou  an  injured  rival  shun 
At  threatening  mouth  of  empty  gun  ? 
Did  wickedness  thy  voyage  steer  ; 
Art  thou  some  feathered,  fierce  sea-wolf, 
Some  vagabond,  rude  buccaneer  ; 
Some  ruthless  parrot  of  the  Gulf? 
Or,  sipping  too  much  potent  dew. 
Didst  wander  here  in  tipsy  "  flew  ?  " 
List  to  my  silvery,  dulcet  voice 
(Mistake  me  not  for  John  C.  Noycs), 
And  answer  make,  in  accents  clear, 
What  dost  thou,  lonely  birdie,  here  ? 


To  which  the  sullen,  moping  bird,  answer  made  liini  never 
a  word. 

This  prolonged  silence  caused  much  anxiety  about  oiu- 
visitor,  who  began  to  appear  as  something  imcanny.  It 
neither  ate  nor  drank,  so  far  as  we  could  discover,  but  seemed 
to  be  repeating  the  idiotic  effort  of  Tanner.  It  neither  sang 
when  we  sang  (but  we  didn't  wonder  at  that,  if  it  had  an\-  ear 
for  music)  nor   did   it   dance  when  the  boatswain  piped.     It 


154  I'HE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

never  chirped  ;  and  was  as  reticent  as  an  unwilling  witness  in 
a  case  of  crini.  con.  The  sailors  on  port-watch  thought  they 
could  hear  strange,  buzzing  noises  in  the  direction  of  its  perch 
after  midnight,  but  they  were  not  certain.  It  became  a  bird 
of  evil  omen. 

We  thought  that  the  Commissioner  was  getting  nervous 
from  dwelling  on  this  mairoais  stijct,  and  that  his  sorrow  at 
leaving  us  was  compensated  in  some  degree  by  the  prospect 
of  relief  from  the  vexatious  association.  As  he  came  on  deck 
to-day,  to  embark  on  the  Barracouta,  with  gripsack  in  hand, 
containing  the  equipment  with  which  he  sailed  from  New 
York — three  paper  collars  (one  soiled),  a  pair  of  collodion 
cuffs,  a  clay  pipe,  cribbage-board,  Tribune  almanac,  and 
some  blank  election  returns — he  cast  his  weather  eye  aloft, 
and  said,  with  that  winning  inflection  employed  in  controver- 
sies with  Mayor  Edson,  "Well,  old  chappy,  I'll  soon  be  on 
the  Barracouta,  and  then  I'm  quit  of  you." 

Hardly  had  he  uttered  these  fateful  words,  when  a  dark 
object  fell  at  his  feet.  Picking  it  up,  he  exclaimed,  "  By 
Jove  !  (an  expletive  acquired  in  his  sojourn  among  the  'Mu- 
dians)  split  my  mizzen  to  'gal'n  'sis,  if  it  isn't  a  Fire  Island 
mosquito  !  I  thought  I  recognized  the  familiar  Bay  Shore 
serenade  one  night  when  I  was  on  deck,  but  attributed  it  to 
a  strong  wind  playing  through  the  rigging  like  an  ^-Eolian 
harp." 

Thus  was  the  action  of  the  strange  bird  accounted  for. 
She  had  been  wintering  in  Bermuda  for  her  health,  to  escape 
the  inclemency  of  the  northern  clime,  and  recognizing  in  the 
Commissioner  (who  is  a  member  of  the  Olympic  Club)  an  old 
friend  with  whom  she  had  perhaps  shared  the  same  dormi- 
tory in  the  club-house  during  sultry  summer-tide,  she  followed 
him  aboard,  intending  to  accompany  him  on  the  voyage. 
Not  knowing  that  he  was  about  to   start   for  home,  his  rude 


Till::    LONE    15IRD.  I  55 

and  thoughtless  speech  at  parting  gave  her  such  a  shock  that 
the  poor  bird  died  of  heart  disease. 

Uncle  John  has  great  faith  in  the  James  pill.  Some  mali- 
cious person  started  a  rumor  that  the  bird  came  down  at  night 
and  swallowed  a  James  pill,  found  lying  around  loose,  thrown 
away  by  a  sailor  on  whom  Uncle  John  had  tried  to  work  it 
off;  but  this  is  false,  a  story  started  by  some  rival  patent 
medicine  vendor.  She  died  of  heart  disease  ;  did  this  ex- 
patriated Babylon  bulbul. 

We  gave  the  remains  of  the  American  bird  of  freedom  to 
a  colored  man  and  brother,  who  came  alongside,  in  a  whole 
boat,  and  part  of  a  calico  shirt.  Evidently  he  had  no  music 
in  his  soul  ;  an  unromantic,  commonplace  son  of  Afric,  who, 
if  there  had  been  a  run  on  him,  couldn't  sliow  more  than  four- 
teen per  cent,  of  shirt,  with  no  assets  in  the  matter  of  trou- 
sers ;  and  a  darky  of  cannibalistic  propensities  withal.  lie 
sold  the  wings  of  the  dead  exile  for  turtle  fins,  and,  after  cut- 
ting off  a  few  steaks,  converted  the  remainer  of  the  carcass 
into  terrapin  stew. 

This  brief  episode  is  not  put  forth  as  a  naked  fact.  I  will 
admit  that  it  is  an  invention,  pure  and  simple,  of  the  fecund 
brain  of  Uncle  John,  Rex  Donimoriim.  I  make  the  admis- 
sion in  order  to  deprecate  any  distrust  that  might  attach  to 
the  rest  of  the  veracious  chronicle,  were  this  flight  of  fancy 
launched  as  truth.  Some  credulous  persons,  such  as  believe 
in  the  efficacy  of  reform  quackery,  for  example,  might  credit 
this  if  they  were  not  warned.  It  is  fabricated  out  of  whole 
cloth,  unless  the  buzzing  of  a  mosquito  in  Uncle  John's  berth 
last  night  may  be  taken  as  a  thread  of  the  narrative.  It  is 
given  as  a  specimen  of  the  old-sailor  yarns  which  he  spins 
for  our  beguilement  when  kept  below  by  bad  weather.  From 
the  most  trivial  incidents  doth  he  wea\'e  webs  of  delicate  de- 
sign, quaintly  fantastic  as  the   meandering  complications  of 


156  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

his  bewildering  shirt-fronts,  brilliant  as  the  coruscations  of 
his  wonderfully-involuted,  labyrinthine  cravats.  When  it  is 
unpleasant  on  deck,  and  surfeit  of  dominos  palls  the  sated 
appetite  for  diverting  games,  Uncle  John  diverts  us  by  mak- 
ing game  of  himself. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


ST.   PIERRE. 


The  Flag  of  Our  Union — The  Alliance — St.  Pierre — Negroes — Religion — 
Fish — Blanchisscuscs — A  Dazzling  Costume — A  State  Dinner — Sym- 
posium— A  Soldier  No  More — Fireworks. 

St.  Tierre,  Martinique,  March  22,  18S4. 
The  United  States  flag,  floating  from  the  man-of-war  astern 
of  which  we  were  anchored  at  St.  Pierre,  presented  a  grate- 
ful sight.  It  seemed  as  if  we  were  meeting  an  old  friend 
abroad  ;  a  pleasure  seldom  enjoyed  in  this  way,  for  our  flag 
is  as  rare  on  the  seas  as  gold-pieces  in  a  poor-box.  We  ap- 
pear to  be  so  fond  of  our  brilliant  ensign  that  we  want  to 
keep  it  at  home  ;  and  the  richest  and  most  powerful  nation 
the  sun  ever  shone  on  cuts  but  a  sorry  figure  in  shipping. 
This  inferiority  is  the  theme  of  platitudinous  comment  in  the 
newspapers,  and  afibrds  stump  speakers  opportunity  for  crit- 
icisms of  the  opposing  party,  which,  like  most  efforts  of  par- 
tisan oratory,  amount  to  nothing,  just  as  the  fault-finders 
expect.  The  cause  of  the  decadence  in  American  ship-build- 
ing is  something  beyond  ordinary  comprehension  ;  at  least 
nobody  appears  to  understand  the  subject  sufficiently  to  pro- 
pose an  efiicient  remedy.  I  have  read  a  good  deal  about  it, 
and,  in  common  with  my  countrymen,  remain  profoundly 
ignorant.  In  our  affairs,  the  more  discussion,  the  more  igno- 
rance ;  the  more  debate  and  legislative  investigation,  the  more 
muddle  in  the  public  mind.     It  is  a  good  thing  for  the  poli- 


158  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

ticians  to  have  this  grievance  on  hand.  It  furnishes  prolific 
matter  for  denouncing  the  existing  Administration,  whatever 
it  may  be  ;  as  Judge  Grover  used  to  say,  going  down  to  the 
tavern  and  swearing  at  the  Court,  I  relegate  this  subject  to 
the  consideration  of  the  wise  and  unselfish  statesmen  who 
govern  us  ;  it  is  not  a  topic  for  the  voyager,  idling  along,  jot- 
ting down,  for  the  perusal  of  indulgent  friends,  such  trifling 
incidents  of  travel  as  come  under  his  personal  observation. 
It  is  a  lamentable  fact,  however,  that  we  have  not  attained 
the  maritime  ascendancy  to  which  our  national  greatness  en- 
titles us. 

I  am  not  given  to  sentimentality,  indeed  am  rather  a 
matter-of-fact,  unromantic  person  (it  may  occur  to  you  from 
these  letters  that  I  am  prosy  withal),  but  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  stars  and  stripes  floating  out  on  the  breeze,  that 
stirs  one  up,  not  only  as  a  reminder  of  home,  but  because 
it  is  an  emblem  of  freedom,  the  hospitable  sign  of  refuge 
for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations.  It  is  an  invitation  to  fly 
from  political  oppression,  to  the  oppression  of  Mrs.  Grundy, 
the  moral-reform  societies,  and  crank  associations.  We 
might  wish  that  its  folds  afiforded  the  American  citizen  in 
every  part  of  the  world  the  same  scrupulous  protection  the 
British  flag  gives  the  English  subject,  but  we  shall  come  to 
that  all  in  good  time.  We  are  young  yet,  with  crude  ideas 
of  personal  rights,  which  we  prate  about  but  do  not  ap- 
preciate ;  just  as  we  preach  temperance,  morality,  and  hon- 
esty, without  undue  addictedness  to  either.  However,  it 
is  a  handsome  piece  of  bunting  (I  was  about  to  say  "  that 
old  flag,"  which  is  rodomontade,  for  it  is  a  new  flag,  of  but 
a  century's  existence,  although  I  am  willing  General  Barnum 
should  describe  it  as  "old  glory"  in  his  impassioned  ad- 
dresses to  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic).  It  is  endeared 
to  me,  not  only  as  the  flag  of  my  native  land,  but  through 


ST.    riKRRE.  159 

associations  in  the  field,  where  ties  were  formed  that  bind 
brave  and  loyal  hearts  together  ;  and  so  I  say,  All  honor  to 
the  flag  of  the  Union  ! 

The  United  States  Steamship  Alliance  is  a  steamship 
carrying  six  gnns,  which  has  been  cruising  in  these  waters  for 
the  winter.  She  is  the  vessel  that  was  sent  to  the  Arctic 
regions  in  search  of  the  ill-fated  Jeannette.  Captain  Rccd, 
the  commander,  visited  the  Montauk  shortly  after  our  arrival, 
and  there  was  reciprocal  extension  of  courtesies  during  all  our 
stay  in  port. 

Martinique  is  the  largest  of  the  Lesser  Antilles,  and  most 
important  of  the  French  West  India  Islands.  It  is  over  50 
miles  long,  and  contains  a  population  of  154,000,  about  10,000 
or  12,000  being  white.  It  has  two  towns  of  importance,  St. 
Pierre,  the  commercial  port,  and  Fort  de  France,  the  capital, 
where  there  is  a  naval  station  and  a  garrison  of  soldiers.  St. 
Pierre  is  built  along  the  sea-shore,  with  a  spur  of  habitations 
creeping  up  in  the  mountains,  along  the  bank  of  a  ri\'er  which 
flows  direct  to  the  sea.  Pelee  Mountain  is  an  extinct  volcano, 
4,000  feet  high,  an  imposing  mass  of  greenness,  indented  with 
ravines  of  darker  shade,  which  mark  the  conduits  of  numerous 
springs,  gushing  from  its  bosom  into  cascaded  rivulets.  On 
an  eminence  overlooking  the  town,  is  a  large  statue  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  standing  as  a  protecting  guardian,  robed  in 
white,  a  sacred  figure,  benignant  and  serene.  The  houses  of 
St.  Pierre  are  of  gray  stone,  with  brown  roofs,  which  have  a 
pretty  effect  viewed  from  the  water.  The  streets  are  nar- 
row, well  paved  with  Belgian  blocks,  and  clean.  Water  runs 
through  the  gutters  on  both  sides,  affording  efficient  surface 
drainage,  but  there  are  no  sewers.  I-ight  refuse  of  all  kinds 
is  thrown  into  these  convenient  cleansing  rivulets.  One  must 
keep  a  sharp  ear  for  the  old  Fdinburgh  cry,  "  gardeyloo,"  for 
the  inhabitants  do  not  always  take  the   trouble  to  go  to  the 


l6o  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

gutter  to  deposit  cloacal  contributions,  but  project  them  from 
afar,  like  an  Indiana  tobacco-chewer  attacking  a  spittoon. 
Fountains  are  numerous,  and  the  exuberant  water  supply- 
would  delight  the  heart  of  a  hydropathist. 

The  negroes  appear  to  be  of  superior  type  to  those  of  St. 
Kitt's,  better  looking,  cleaner,  and  more  intelligent.  Evident- 
ly there  is  a  considerable  admixture  of  white  blood  in  the 
population.  I  am  informed,  however,  that  the  color  line  is 
strictly  drawn,  the  taint  of  negro  blood,  while  no  disqualifi- 
cation for  political  or  mercantile  association,  operating  as  an 
insuperable  barrier  to  social  recognition.  It  is  something 
like  the  caste  distinction  between  professional,  mercantile,  and 
mechanical  pursuits  which  obtains  in  our  republican  land.  As 
a  rule,  the  people  are  well  dressed.  Judging  from  their  un- 
artificial  contour,  many  of  the  negresses  wear  but  one  gar- 
ment, a  long  calico  robe,  with  a  sweeping  train  of  con- 
ventional Charity  Ball  extent.  The  small  children  are  more 
sparing  in  attire,  so  that,  taking  all  together,  they  about 
strike  an  average  in  the  quantity  of  material  used  between 
them. 

The  laborers,  as  all  through  the  West  Indies,  are  negroes. 
The  dignity  of  labor  is  not  regarded  with  that  fond  admiration 
which  possesses  the  soul  of  the  lawyer  candidate  for  office 
about  election  time  in  New  York.  In  the  narrow  streets,  are 
to  be  seen  carts  laden  with  casks,  propelled  by  hand,  not  the 
light  porter's  wagon,  but  genuine  drays  with  shafts.  But  it 
takes  several  negroes  to  a  dray.  Everybody  seems  to  be 
busy,  but  nobody  in  a  hurry.  No  movement  is  to  be  seen 
here  like  the  feverish  palpitation  of  Broadway,  between  the 
City  Hall  and  Wall  Street,  during  business  hours.  Perspira- 
tion may  be  induced  without  effort.  Fortunately,  though  it 
is  excessively  hot,  there  is  always  a  coolish  breeze  blowing, 
which  renders  the  atmosphere  tolerable  in  the  shade.     The 


ST.    riEKRK.  iGl 

men  wear  white  linen  suits,  and  the  favorite  hcad-coverinc;  is 
the  Panama  hat,  though  the  East-Indian  pith  hehiict  is  seen 
occasionally. 

There  are  no  glass  windows,  simply  apertures  in  the  wall, 
with  wooden  shutters  in  shops  to  close  when  business  is  over. 
The  number  of  drinking-places  bears  evidence  that  water  is  not 
the  favorite  beverage.  It  may  be  because  it  is  not  expcnsixc. 
We  are  prone  to  underrate  what  is  cheap.  Licenses  are  issued 
by  the  Fcrme,  as  the  internal  revenue  department  is  st\'led,  and 
the  number  o{  \\\ft  debit  is  painted  on  the  outside  of  the  build- 
ing licensed.  Anybody  can  get  a  license  who  will  pa}-  for  it. 
There  are  no  nonsensical  restrictions  ;  there  are  no  drunkards 
to  be  seen.  We  saw  some  curious  placards  on  the  walls.  On 
one  door  was  a  large  handbill,  of  white  paper,  with  staring  black 
letters,  containing  this  pious  aspiration  :  O  Marie,  conciic  sans 
pcclu',  prica poui'  nous  !  while  the  adjoining  building,  devoted 
to  the  sale  of  liquors,  had  for  its  sign  :  Akx  amours  dc  Bac- 
chus ;  a  curious  neighborly  conjunction  of  the  spiritual  and 
the  spirituous,  of  heathen  and  Christian  worship.  Another  had 
an  eulogistic  inscription  to  President  Paul  Grcvy  for  some  act 
of  patriotism. 

St.  Pierre  contains  several  churches,  one  a  venerable  Cathe- 
dral, somewhat  dilapidated,  undergoing  reparation.  The}- 
are  all  Catholic.  Ikit  few,  if  any,  Protestants  live  in  Marti- 
nique. Here  is  a  great  field  for  the  missionary.  It  is  a  hack- 
neyed old  joke,  revived  by  every  fresh  traveler  in  France,  that 
even  the  little  children  of  Paris  speak  French  ;  but  it  really 
strikes  an  American  as  strange  to  be  in  a  place  where  the  in- 
habitants, ninety  per  cent,  colored,  all  speak  French  and  wor- 
ship in  the  Catholic  Church.  Whether  the  salutar}'  influence 
of  the  priests  has  anything  to  do  with  the  superiorit}'  of  these 
islanders  to  those  under  English  rule,  is  a  nut  for  theologians 
to  crack.     I  refer  it  to  Bishop  McOuaid,  of  Rochester,  and 


l62  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Bishop  Doane,  of  Albany,  and  will  abide  by  their  unanimous 
decision. 

I  suppose  there  must  be  Jews  here,  for  much  business  is 
done,  and  where  you  find  commerce  there  will  the  children 
of  Israel  be  gathered  to  have  a  controlling  share  in  its  man- 
agement. Some  coolies  are  to  be  met,  but  they  are  not  so 
numerous  as  in  the  island  of  Trinidad,  further  south. 

Ice  is  dear,  costing  $40  a  ton,  the  usual  price  in  the  West 
Indies.  The  telegraph  is  an  expensive  medium  of  communi- 
cation. Four  words  to  New  York  cost  us  $11.60,  an  increase 
of  forty  cents  a  word  on  the  St.  Kitt's  tariff. 

The  fish-market,  a  paved  space  near  the  shore,  with  two 
or  three  frail  open  structures,  has  a  large  supply  offish,  many 
of  them  curiously  and  brilliantly  marked.  The  tropical  fish 
do  not  compare,  in  variety  and  flavor,  with  those  found  in 
northern  waters.  Womencontrol  the  fish-market.  The  draw- 
ing of  seines  near  the  shore,  directly  in  front  of  where  we  lay 
at  anchor,  afforded  us  much  amusement.  It  was  usually  at- 
tended with  great  vociferation,  and  attracted  all  the  boys 
bathing  in  the  vicinity,  Avho  lent  a  hand  as  volunteers  and 
added  to  the  turmoil  without  charge.  Sometimes  the  draught 
was  a  case  of  vox  et  preterea  nihil :  a  large  investment  of 
voice — net  result,  nothing. 

Walking  for  exercise,  in  the  road  that  winds  along  the  side 
of  a  mountain  abutting  the  shore,  we  came  upon  an  extensive 
Martinique  laundry  ;  a  narrow,  shallow  stream,  with  a  rocky 
bed,  fed  by  springs  from  the  hill-sides.  In  this  big  wash-tub 
a  number  of  black  blajtchisscuscs,  wading  in  the  water  that 
reached  above  their  ankles  to  an  extent  indefinite  to  our 
averted  eyes,  were  engaged  pummeling  doomed  articles,  upon 
which  they  wreaked  vengeful  purification.  They  laid  the 
garments  on  sacrificial  stones  and  pounded  away  with  the 
vehemence  of  a  Sullivan,  holding  his  antagonist  "  in  chancery." 


JAKIMN    DES    PI.ANTES.     ST.     IMKKKK. 


ST.    PIERRE.  163 

They  seemed  to  have  a  spite  against  the  objects  under  their 
harsh  manipulation.  I  am  sure  they  had  against  some  un- 
fortunate under-garments  I  entrusted  to  their  tender  mercies 
in  a  moment  of  confiding  weakness.  They  were  terribly 
knocked  up  when  returned  to  mc,  about  in  a  condition  of  a 
neophyte  Son  of  Malta  who  had  just  experienced  ihc  pel  ft  c 
forte  ct  dure,  traversing  the  rugged  path  which  led  to  the  dis- 
enthrallment  of  persecuted  nations.  "  I  should  be  afraid," 
said  Uncle  John,  with  a  shudder,  "  to  trust  my  best  colored 
shirts,  of  the  morning-glory,  convolvulus,  grapevine,  and 
night-blooming  cereus  pattern,  to  those  inconsiderate  washer- 
women." "  Well,  you  might  be,"  remarked  the  Commodore, 
"  if  you  were  not  afraid,  yourself,  )'our  linen  would  certainly 
come  back  a-frayed."  The  usual  fine  was  at  once  imposed, 
which  the  Commodore  paid  as  soon  as  we  returned  to  the 
yacht.  This  is  his  receipt  in  full.  I  detest  puns.  "  Just  to 
think,"  remarked  Uncle  John,  plaintively,  "those  ignorant 
creatures  might  save  all  that  trouble  of  pounding  by  putting 
an  ounce  of  detergent  in  the  source  of  the  river  every  morn- 
ing." 

Returning  the  visit  of  Captain  Reed,  we  found  in  his 
cabin  the  English  Consul ;  a  fine  old  Irish  gentleman,  paying 
an  official  visit,  in  full  uniform  or  court-suit ;  coat,  with  collar 
and  cuffs  elaborately  embroidered,  chapeau  and  sword.  I 
never  have  seen  a  complete  inventory  of  the  adornments  which 
formed  the  basis  of  that  oft-quoted  array  of  "  Solomon  in  all 
his  glory,"  but  I  fancy  it  might  be  found  in  the  bill  of  dress 
of  the  English  Consular  service.  It  reminded  me  of  the  mys- 
tic show-window  of  a  dealer  in  Masonic  regalia.  It  is  proper 
to  say  that  the  court-dress  was  quite  becoming  to  the  good- 
looking,  dignified  wearer,  but  it  afforded  a  striking  contrast 
to  the  parsimoniously  plain  uniform  of  the  United  States  ser- 
vice. 


l64  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

The  Commodore  invited  the  officers  of  the  Alliance  to  dine 
with  him,  and  the  invitation  was  accepted  by  Captain  Reed, 
Lieutenants  Rich,  Reynolds,  Wright  and  Gulick,  and  Ensign 
Rose.  In  honor  of  the  occasion,  the  steward  exercised  his  in- 
genuity to  get  up  a  dinner  as  elaborate  as  the  means  at  his 
command  would  afford,  and  the  success  was  complete.  He 
made  it  a  sort  of  memorial  feast,  with  his  dishes  of  American 
names;  and  with  the  aid  of  Hors  d'  CEuvres,  various  wines, 
confections  and  fruits,  to  fill  in,  swelled  the  bill  of  fare  into 
quite  respectable  proportions.  It  assumed  a  national  aspect, 
befitting  a  dinner  given  to  naval  representatives  of  our  coun- 
try abroad. 

I  send  the  menu,  copies  of  which,  on  the  yacht  cards,  em- 
blazoned with  the  cross  signals  of  the  club  and  the  Montauk, 
were  preserved  by  the  officers  as  mementoes  of  the  enter- 
tainment : 

Welcome,  Officers  of  the  Alliance! 

MENU. 

March  21,  1884. 

Little  Neck  Clams,  memoire  de  New  York. 

Chablis. 

Terrapin  Soup,  Baltimore  style. 

Sherry,  Montilla,  i860. 

Boiled  Fish,  Cape  Cod  Sauce. 

Boiled  Potatoes,  Jersey  Peachblows. 

Still  Moselle,  Zeltinger. 

Roast  Turkey,  Newport  Stuffing. 

Boiled  Onions,  bouquet  de  Weathersfield. 

Green  Peas,  Norfolk. 

Baked  Sweet  Potatoes,  St.  Augustine. 

CJiampagne,  Montauk,  premier  crii. 

Broiled  Squabs  on  Toast,  Philadelphia  style. 

Lettuce  Salad,  Boston  Dressing. 

Claret,  Chateau  Mauvezin. 


ST.    PIKKKE.  165 

Plum  Pudding,  Hartford  Sauce. 

Sherry,  .Montilla,  1845. 

Wine  Jelly,  Catawba. 

Blanc-manger  :  Charlotte  Riisse. 

Bonbons  :  Candied  Pensamiento, 

Ruesorellc,  Callecabana. 

Fruits. 
Cheese  (from  Oneida), 

Coffee. 
Cognac,  Otard  &  Cie. 
Vino  Americano,  Old  Fort  Schuyler  Malt  Rye. 
Y.\CHT    rviONTAUK,    ST.     PIKRRE,     MARTINIQUE. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  of  the  dinner  that  the  guests  seemed 
to  enjoy  it,  and  we  hngered  at  the  table  until  the  murmuring 
waifs  of  cool  night  breeze,  floating  down  through  the  wide 
ventilator  overhead,  invited  us  to  take  our  coffee  and  cognac 
on  deck.  We  spent  some  hours  most  agreeably,  singing  songs, 
telling  stories,  and  relating  funny  personal  experiences.  Cap- 
tain Reed  has  been  an  indefatigable  collector  of  jokes  and  bon- 
inots,  which  he  exhibits  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  virtuoso 
in  facetiae.  One  of  the  attractive  features  of  our  session  on 
deck  was  the  character  of  the  songs  sung.  They  were  mainly 
negro  melodies,  popular  ere  opera  bouffc  had  vitiated  our  taste 
for  simple  harmonies,  "  Dearest  May,"  "  Old  Folks  at  Home," 
"  Fare  you  well,  Ladies,"  and  other  familiar  strains  of  the 
olden  time.  These  frank  and  breezy  sailors,  cruising  around 
the  world,  are  not  up  to  all  the  slang  cockneyisms  and  in- 
nuendoes of  the  vulgar  concert-saloon  variety,  but  bring  back 
the  days  of  Christy,  Campbell,  and  l^uckley,  in  the  honest 
songs  which  they  sing,  with  soul  in  them. 

One  of  the  guests  on  the  Montauk  sang,  at  the  Commo- 
dore's request,  a  little  song,  to  the  air  of"  Kathleen  O'More," 
which  has  not  been  published,  and  I  send  it  to  you.  The 
music  is  plaintive. 


1 66 


THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 


A    SOLDIER    NO    MORE. 


WRITTEN    FOR    POST   JOHN    F.   MCQUADE,   NO.   I4,   G.  A.  R.,  UTICA,   N.  Y. 

Air — Kathleen  O'More. 
"  ndante.  m    -0-  m    m  m    -*-•  -*-  -•-  -•■  -  -m-  ^ 

— f— -^ — -^ , 1 1     ^      -I 1       I       I 1 — ^ ' ^^ 1 m    1        — , 


1^ 


=f^ 


3 


I*^*^S=*= 


-z—n- 


— '* — 1^ — r- 

They  ten  -  der  -  ly     lay     him     to     rest  'neath  the  oak,      And  tear-  ful  -  ly 


*=P= 


=fsrc— 


1"^ 


■::^-=.-^z 


peace  to       his    ash  -  as       in  -   voke.  The  brave    U  -  nion     sol  -   dier —  a 


'f^^-=^ 


'M-=^z 


i3 


iff=*i 


dead   pri-vate  sol-dier — A    sol-dier  no  more. 


n^— 


ST.    PIERRE.  1G7 

When  called  by  his  country  her  flag  to  uphold, 
He  soon  'niongst  the  first  volunteers  was  enrolled. 
The  brave  Union  soldier  ;  a  dead  private  soldier  ; 
A  soldier  no  more. 

Still  foremost  in  battle  to  do  his  devoir. 
True  glory  was  ever  his  bright  guiding  star. 
The  brave  Union  soldier  ;  a  dead  private  soldier  ; 
A  soldier  no  more. 

He  fell,  as  a  freeman  should  fall,  in  the  fight. 
Upholding  the  cause  of  Truth,  Justice  and  Right. 
The  brave  Union  soldier  ;  a  dead  private  soldier; 
A  soldier  no  more. 

Not  proudly  emblazoned  in  scroll  of  high  Fame, 
But  graved  on  sad  hearts  is  the  dead  soldier's  name. 
The  brave  Union  soldier;  a  dead  private  soldier  ; 
A  soldier  no  more. 

It  was  late  when  our  friends  left  us,  the  stars  scintillating 
in  a  darkling,  enameled  sky  ;  and  as  they  rowed  off  they  sang 
that  good  old  stave,  "  Merrily  now  we  row  along,  o'er  the  dark 
blue  sea."  When  about  midway  between  the  vessels,  the\' 
gave  three  resounding  cheers  for  "  the  United  States  j-acht 
Montauk,"  which  we  answered  with  three  for  the  officers  of 
the  United  States  Steamship  Alliance.  With  the  supplemen- 
tary "  tiger  "  to  our  cheer,  there  burst  forth  from  the  deck  of  the 
yacht  a  blaze  of  red,  white,  and  blue  fires,  which  had  been  pre- 
pared for  ignition  at  the  proper  moment.  The  effect  was  mag- 
nificent. The  symmetrical  masts,  graceful  spars,  and  delicate 
rigging  of  the  yacht  stood  out  boldly  defined  in  the  predomi- 
nating flush  of  crimson,  which  shone  on  the  war-ship,  evoking 
the  great  hull  from  the  obscurity  in  which  it  had  been  shrouded. 
as  if  it  obeyed  the  incantation  of  some  magic  fire  ;  while  Ijc- 
Iween  was  the  white  gig  of  the  Captain,  filled  with  the  officers 


l68  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

and  boat's  crew,  resting  on  their  oars,  as  they  gazed  at  the  spec- 
tacle with  faces  radiant  in  the  coruscation.  The  colored  balls 
from  Roman  candles,  held  by  our  sailors  on  deck,  shot  up  in 
the  air,  bringing  reflective  twinkles  from  the  emerald  hills 
ashore,  and  lighting  up  the  harbor  in  a  flood  of  enveloping 
refulgence. 

A  gentleman  who  viewed  this  illumination  from  the  town 
said  that  he  had  never  witnessed  anything  finer  ;  excelling 
even  more  elaborate  pyrotechnic  set-pieces.  I  can  imagine 
that  the  dazzling  glitter  of  a  sudden  eruption  of  brilliant  fires, 
on  a  dark  night,  seeming  to  spring  up  like  a  volcanic  outburst 
from  the  sea,  must  have  been  a  striking  display.  Upon  reach- 
ing the  deck  of  the  Alliance,  the  officers  acknowledged  the 
compliment  by  discharging  responsive  rockets  ;  and,  with  this 
friendly  return  of  our  amicable  fire,  darkness  shut  down  like 
an  extinguisher,  the  hovering  rain  set  in,  and  midnight  hushed 
to  silence  ao-ain. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


MARTINIQUE. 


The  Empress  Josephine — Mornc  Rouge — Holy  Ground — Jardin  dcs 
Plantes — The  Fcr-de-laticc — Sunday  Inspection — Dcjci'Dier-diiiaioit \- 
— The  Loyal  Legionicr. 

St.  riF.RKK,  March  23,  1S84. 

Some  of  the  biographers  give  St.  Pierre  as  the  birtliplace  of  the 
Empress  Josephine,  but  they  are  wrong.  She  was  born  near 
Fort  de  France  (then  styled  Fort  Royal),  where  there  is  a 
magnificent  statue  of  white  marble,  erected  to  her  memory, 
in  1868,  by  the  inhabitants  of  ^Martinique.  The  date  of  her 
birth,  as  recorded  in  the  baptismal  registry  of  the  Church  of 
Trois-ilets,  was  June  17,  1763.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Joseph  Gaspard  de  Taschcr,  Lord  of  La  Pagerie,  a  lieuten- 
ant of  artillery  in  the  French  army,  and  Rose  Claire  Duver- 
ger  de  Sannois.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  Mdllc.  Tascher  mar- 
ried Alexander  de  Beauharnais  ;  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age. 
The  history  of  her  separation,  in  1788  ;  her  return  to  Marti- 
nique with  her  daughter  Ilortense  (mother  of  Napoleon  III.)  ; 
the  death  of  Beauharnais  by  the  guillotine,  in  1794  ;  her  mar- 
riage to  Napoleon  on  March  9,  1796  ;  her  coronation  as  Yaw- 
press  by  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in  1804,  when  Napoleon  assumed 
the  imperial  crown  ;  her  divorce,  and  her  death  at  Malmaison, 
in  1809,  are  all  familiar  to  the  reader.  The  islanders  of  Mar- 
tinique are  very  proud  of  the  fact  that  their  i-^land  gave  birth 
to  this  lovely  and  unfortunate  woman  (sacrificed  to  the  ambi- 


I/O  THE    CRUISE    OF    THE    MONTAUK. 

tion  of  the  Emperor^ ,  who  has  left  a  charming  memory  among 
the  romantic  episodes  of  history. 

Josephine  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  amiable  of 
women.  Her  elevation  to  the  crown  was  predicted  by  an  old 
sibyl  some  years  before  her  first  marriage.  The  soothsayer 
prophesied  as  follows  (according  to  Josephine's  own  state- 
ment, made  before  all  these  predictions  had  come  to  pass)  : 
"  You  will  soon  be  married— but  you  will  not  be  happy.  You 
will  be  a  widow,  and  then — then  you  will  be  Queen  of  France. 
Some  happy  years  will  be  yours,  but  you  will  die  in  a  hos- 
pital amid  civil  commotion."  She  paid  no  attention  to  the 
prophecy  at  the  time,  and  it  was  only  when  her  first  husband 
died  on  the  scaffold  that  she  began  to  believe  it  might  be  ful- 
filled. If  some  political  vaticinator  had  prophesied  five  years 
ago  that  Chester  A.  Arthur  would  become  President  of  the 
United  States,  his  prediction  would  have  received  no  more 
credence  than  did  the  promise  of  future  greatness  to  the 
charming  young  creole,  surrounded  by  her  negro  slaves  in 
the  island  of  Martinique. 

Yesterday  we  made  a  pilgrimage  of  curiosity  to  Morne 
Rouge,  a  mountain  village  about  six  miles  distant,  noted  for 
its  devotional  character.  The  drive  (we  were  no  palmers  with 
staff  and  scrip,  though  the  scallop-shell  is  the  heraldic  device 
of  the  Commodore,  proving  that  he  is  descended  from  a 
Crusader)  was  through  a  fine  road,  skirting  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes,  passing  the  Maison  de  Sante,  and  several  handsome 
residences,  on  the  river-banks  leading  to  the  mountains.  The 
ascent,  accomplished  by  easy  grades,  afforded  many  pleasing 
views  of  hill  and  valley  scenery,  with  the  sea  in  the  distance. 
Sugar-cane  fields  lined  the  roadsides,  in  progressive  stages 
of  development,  some  in  the  incipience  of  green  tenderness, 
others  in  the  sturdy  robustness  of  the  brown  stalk  ;  while 
in   sheaves  were  the    matured  canes  that  had   "fallen   into 


MARTINIQUE.  I/I 

the  sere,  the  yellow-leaf,"  cut  down  by  the  bow-bill  of  the 
harvester,  and  awaiting  transportation  to  the  mill. 

It  would  seem  as  if  in  these  tropical  regions  the  women 
do  more  work  than  the  men,  saving  of  course  the  hard  labor 

* 

on  roads,  moving  heavy  objects,  loading  and  unloading  ves- 
sels, and  kindred  occupations.  Few  women  were  to  be 
found  idling,  but  many  men  appear  to  be  taking  it  easy. 
Hardly  a  negress  was  to  be  met  in  the  road  who  was  not  carry- 
ing a  load  on  her  head,  while  men  loitered  along,  empty- 
handed,  empty-headed.  Every  burden  is  borne  on  the  head, 
from  the  weightiest  to  the  lightest.  Small  children  carried 
bundles  of  a  few  ounces,  balancing  as  if  they  were  heavy 
weights.  Perhaps  they  were  practicing  for  greater  efforts. 
If  one  of  these  women  had  occasion  to  carry  home  a  spool  of 
thread,  she  would  put  it  on  her  head,  instead  of  having  it  sent 
by  the  shopkeeper's  light  wagon,  as  is  the  custom  with  our 
fine  ladies.  I  attribute  the  erect  litheness  which  distinguishes 
the  carriage  of  these  women  to  this  habit  of  bearing  burdens 
on  the  head.  A  noticeable  thing  about  the  contents  of  the 
loads  was  the  multitude  of  bottles  and  flasks.  The  neck  of  a 
bottle  peeped  out  from  every  bundle  and  a  cork  from  every 
basket.  We  saw  several  women  balancing  demijohns  on 
their  heads,  some  with  wicker  coverings,  others  denuded  and 
showing  the  naked  glass.  It  requires  skill — this  wrestling 
with  a  demijohn.  I  have  known  strong  men  at  home  to  un- 
dertake it,  and  meet  with  dismal  failures.  It  may  be  owing 
to  the  atmosphere.  I  don't  think  the  persons  I  have  in  view 
lifted  the  bottle  high  enough  to  keep  their  balance.  This 
repeated  vitriform  spectacle  caused  Uncle  John  to  exclaim, 
whenever  he  saw  women  approaching,  "  More  bottles  !  " 

Negresses  and  donkeys  are  the  common  carriers  of  this 
country.  We  met  a  man  comfortabh'  bestriding  a  diminutive 
ass,  with  well-filled  panniers  protruding  on  both  hands,  while 


1/2  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

alongside  trudged  three  women,  carrying  heavy  loads  on  their 
heads,  and  occasionally  encouraging  the  donkey  in  his  patient 
progress.      But  man  is  lord  of  creation. 

At  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  a  short  distance  from 
Morne  Rouge,  is  a  crucifix  of  large  dimensions,  with  a  life- 
size  figure  of  Our  Saviour,  and  an  adjoining  receptacle  for 
votive  offerings.  Wayside  shrines  and  crosses  are  plenty  in 
Martinique. 

We  found  the  weather  quite  cool  at  the  elevation  of  Morne 
Rouge.  We  thought  that  possibly  we  might  be  able  to  sell 
our  stove  here,  but  the  villagers  were  kept  warm  by  religious 
fervor.  It  is  a  long,  straggling  settlement,  with  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  a  French  village,  reviving  in  me  recollections 
of  the  old-fashioned  Canadian  Seigneurie  in  which  happy  col- 
lege days  were  spent.  The  church  is  plain  and  unpretentious 
without,  but  the  interior,  of  the  usual  cruciform  shape,  is  ex- 
ceedingly beautiful,  with  one  high  altar  and  two  side  altars, 
dedicated  respectively  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  Joseph.  I 
believe  devout  pilgrimages  are  made  here,  and  there  is  certainly 
an  air  of  sanctity  about  the  place  well  calculated  to  inspire  de- 
votion in  the  mind  prepared  for  religious  impression.  The 
frescoing  of  the  ceilings  is  remarkably  fine,  and  on  the  walls 
hang  valuable  paintings,  of  such  excellence  as  to  excite  sur- 
prise that  they  are  to  be  found  in  this  out-of-the-way  little 
hamlet.  The  dim  religious  light  has  a  tinge  of  cheerfulness 
rare  in  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  the  conventional  order  of  archi- 
tecture. This  church  possesses  in  appearance  all  the  attri- 
butes of  a  veritable  sanctuary.  Harmonious  with  the  devo- 
tional quiet  and  repose,  was  the  presence  of  two  white-veiled 
nuns,  who  knelt  before  the  high  altar,  wrapped  in  pious  med- 
itation. A  few  persons  were  scattered  along  the  aisles  say- 
ing  their  prayers,  among  them  several  negro  boys,  one  of 
whom  was  just  about  to  enter  the  confessional.     The  spirit 


MARTINIQUE.  1 73 

uality  of  this  devout  temple  could  not  fail  to  impress  even 
those  who  are  not  believers  in  its  creed.  As  we  cnicrijcd 
from  this  peaceful  precinct,  we  met  a  cheerful,  gray-haired 
priest,  in  cassock  and  white  band,  who  greeted  us  with  an 
urbane  smile  and  courteous  inclination  of  the  head.  lie  was 
a  refined,  intellectual-looking  man,  who  filled  the  idea  of  tlic 
typical  abbe,  one  who  combines  religious  knowledge  with  the 
culture  and  accomplishments  of  the  great  world.  I  regretted 
that  we  did  not  take  advantage  of  his  salutation  to  converse 
with  the  village  curc\  if  such  was  his  office. 

We  drove  up  to  a  cabaret  and  took  a  glass  of  water,  suffi- 
ciently cool,  from  the  porous  earthen  jar,  properly  alleviated, 
to  wash  down  a  morsel  of  crusty  bread,  palatable  and  whole- 
some, without  being  very  white,  and  some  excellent  cheese. 
The  stone  floor  and  plain  wooden  seats  were  such  as  we  see 
in  provincial  France  ;  and  but  for  the  black  faces,  the  tropi- 
cal vegetation,  and  some  of  the  huts,  one  might  imagine  one's 
self  among  the  French  peasantry  ;  that  hardy,  simple,  honest, 
and  religious  folk,  leading  uneventful  lives  in  their  quiet  com- 
munes. 

We  had  not  time  on  our  return  home  to  make  a  thorough 
examination  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  which  is  well  worth 
visiting,  as  it  contains  fine  specimens  of  vegetation,  plants, 
flowers,  and  trees,  with  cascades  and  miniature  lakes.  It  is 
said  that  the  venomous  fcr-dc-lance^  the  dreaded  snake  of 
Martinique,  lurks  in  the  more  sequestered  places  of  this  arti- 
ficial paradise.  This  malignant  reptile  is  different  from  other 
serpents,  inasmuch  as  it  does  not  wait  for  attack,  but  be- 
comes the  aggressor.  It  must  be  a  formidable  enemy,  for  it 
is  the  terror  of  the  Lsland.  Some  claim  that  it  infests  the 
mountain  roadside  in  the  suburbs,  and  that  at  night  travelers 
carry  lanterns  to  frighten  it  off.  liut  snake  stories  must  be 
taken  with  a  grain  of  allowance.     There  is  no  antidote  for  its 


174  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

poisonous  bite,  and  many  laborers  die  from  it  in  the  cane- 
fields  every  year.  I  do  not  learn  that  the  snake  exists  any- 
where else,  though  it  is  said  to  be  found  in  the  adjacent  island 
of  St.  Lucia. 

Earthquakes  cause  some  damage  here,  but  there  is  more 
fright  than  hurt  in  the  tremblements-de-terre,  except  on  ex- 
traordinary occasions.  The  hurricane,  however,  is  more  de- 
structive. Two  years  ago,  a  cyclone  from  the  southwest  tore 
thirty  vessels  from  anchorage  and  moorings  and  drove  them 
ashore.  With  the  earthquake,  hurricane,  tarantula,  scorpion, 
and  fer-de-lance,  Martinique,  like  St.  Kitt's,  presents  attrac- 
tions for  prolonged  absence. 

This  morning  we  attended  the  Sunday  inspection  aboard 
the  Alliance,  and  accompanied  Captain  Reed  in  his  rounds. 
The  ship  was  scrupulously  neat,  and  the  men,  in  their  clean 
white  suits,  looked  hearty  and  sailor-like.  Our  country  may 
be  deficient  in  ships,  but  the  Yankee  tar  has  no  superior  on 
the  seas.  A  platoon  of  marines,  under  command  of  Lieutenant 
Gulick,  formed  part  of  the  force.  The  calls  aboard  ship  are 
now  sounded  on  the  bugle,  the  inspiring,  ear-piercing  fife, 
which  formerly  blew  the  men  to  quarters,  having  had  its  pipe 
put  out  by  the  economy  which  rules  our  Navy.  According 
to  the  sea-ditty,  they  reformed  Jack — "  added  to  his  pay  five 
cents  a  day,  and  stopped  his  grog  forever." 

After  the  inspection,  we  spent  an  hour  with  Captain  Reed 
in  his  cabin.  He  showed  us  some  curious  things  he  had  col- 
lected in  his  voyaging.  The  Captain  has  a  taste  for  natural 
history,  and  gathers  specimens  as  he  goes  along.  He  gave 
us  a  great  variety  of  the  fruits  found  in  these  islands,  which 
were  novel  to  us.  One  of  them,  the  sour-sop,  makes  a  de- 
licious drink,  with  a  little  sugar  and  ice. 

We  had  accepted  an  invitation  to  breakfast  with  the  ward- 
room officers,  and  sat  down  to  table  at  ii  o'clock,  the  usual 


MART1XI(;)UE.  '75 

hour  in  these  latitudes,  the  meal  being  a  dcjcuiicr-a-la-four^ 
chcttc.  In  addition  to  the  Heutenants  who  had  dined  with 
us,  there  were  present  Lieutenants  Lasher  and  McLean,  Sur- 
geon Bradley,  and  two  of  my  old  acquaintances,  Paymaster 
McGowan  and  Chief  Engineer  Kelly. 

The  adaptability  of  West  Indian  fruits  to  bibulous  pur- 
poses was  profusely  demonstrated  at  the  generous  breakfast. 
Before  sitting  down,  we  discerned  one  of  the  lieutenants  in 
his  state-room  busily  employed  expressing  fruits  into  an  ap- 
petizing draught,  in  accordance  with  the  habit  of  our  healthy 
ancestors,  recorded  in  the  old  saw  :  "  Our  fathers,  who  were 
wondrous  wise,  first  washed  their  throats  and  then  th^ir 
eyes."  But  that  we  knew  of  the  popularity  of  fruit  potables 
on  the  ship,  and  the  disfavor  in  which  spirituous  compounds 
were  held,  we  would  have  mistaken  this  simple  juice  for  the 
genuine  "Fennel" — the  early-bird  vermifuge  aboard  the 
Montauk,  named  in  honor  of  our  favorite  poet  Longfellow  : 

"  Then  in  Life's  goblet  freely  press, 
The  leaves  that  give  it  bitterness.'' 

It  was  a  perfect  imitation,  well  calculated  to  deceive.  It 
had  all  the  fennelian  idiosyncrasies — I  regard  that  as  a  neat 
way  of  putting  it  in  plain  and  simple  language.  This  success- 
ful utilization  of  tropic  fruits  was  not  restricted  to  the  ante- 
prandial "  whet,"  but  permeated  the  feast — in  bottles  of  fa- 
miliar appearance.  By  the  application  of  efficient  transmuting 
formulas,  the  practical  chemists  of  the  Alliance  ward- room 
laboratory  convert  the  exudations  of  sour-sop  and  kindred 
aqueosities  into  liquids  that,  in  taste,  smell,  and  effect,  closely 
resemble  hock,  sherry,  claret,  burgundy,  and  cognac.  So 
perfect  is  the  imitation  that  we  would  have  taken  them  for 
such  (although  experience  has  not  given  us  much  knowledge 


176  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

of  these  things)  had  we  not  been  on  the  Alhance,  where  the 
use  of  exhilarants  is  discouraged.  They  have  been  off  cruis- 
ing, and  may  not  have  learned  that  Mrs.  Hayes  is  no  longer 
President  of  the  White  House.  The  recipe  of  the  jovial 
ward-room  officers  of  the  Alliance  is  of  little  use  in  the  civil- 
ized countries  they  visit,  but  out  in  Iowa  it  would  possess 
great  value.  The  demand  for  it  among  prohibitory  poli- 
ticians, teetotal  demagogues,  and  professional  reform  mendi- 
cants, showing  their  moral  sores  to  the  public,  would  be  en- 
ormous. 

The  breakfast  passed  off  enjoyably.  We  were  not  at  table 
more  than  three  hours  or  so,  no  long  speeches  were  tolerated, 
short  and  pithy  remarks  were  in  order,  and  came  as  thick  as 
little  bills  on  the  first  of  January.  Lieutenant  Lasher  sang 
"The  Anchor's  Weighed,"  and  other  sea-songs,  with  much 
tender  effect,  as  did  Paymaster  McGowan,  whose  fine,  pa- 
thetic tenor,  particularly  excellent  in  the  artistic  tremolo, 
blended  mellifluously  with  the  clear,  round  baritone  of  our 
Commodore  in  that  stirring  old  duet,  "  Larboard  Watch, 
Ahoy  !  "  A  funny  story  was  told  by  Chief  Engineer  Kelly, 
who  said  that  he  was  crossing  the  Atlantic  once  in  a  Cunar- 
der,  the  captain  of  which  had  taken  with  him  a  cabin-boy, 
the  son  of  a  poor  clergyman  who  desired  to  have  him 
brought  up  to  sea  service.  One  day  the  poor  little  fellow 
was  writhing  in  the  agonies  of.  seasickness,  when  a  burly 
saloon-steward  came  along,  and,  grasping  him  by  the  col- 
lar, exclaimed,  "  Get  up  out  of  that,  ye  lubber  ;  why  ye 
h'eats,  and  ye  drinks,  and  ye  wommits  just  like  a  first-class 
passenger." 

Lieutenant  Lasher  is  a  native  of  Oswego,  and  was  a 
schoolmate  of  Judge  Bulger,  some  time  before  the  last  war 
with  Great  Britain.  He  manifested  a  great  deal  of  interest 
in  the  Judge,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  he  was  re-elected, 


MARTINIQUE. 


177 


but  as  I  had  not  heard  from  Utica  since  I  left  I  could  give 
him  no  information  on  this  point.  I  gave  it  as  my  opinion, 
however,  that,  if  a  candidate,  he  was  probably  defeated,  for 
one  of  the  absurdities  of  the  great  American  people  is  to 
say  of  a  public  officer  whose  capacity  and  efficiency  have 
secured  successive  re-election  that  he  has  had  the  place  long 
enough  and  it  belongs  to  somebody  else.  The  idea  is  that 
the  administration  of  our  public  affiiirs  should  be  passed 
around  like  the  bread  and  water  at  a  Mormon  communion 
service. 

As  a  finale,  "  Blondy"  Orja-avpo'?  rattled  off  the  song  which 
makes  the  rafters  ring  in  Delmonico's  banquet-hall  on  "  Le- 
gion nights."  The  lusty  chorus  from  the  ward-room  gave 
rise  to  some  alarm  lest  the  concussion  should  shake  the  old 
rattle-trap  ship  to  pieces  and  make  her  go  down  at  anchor. 

THE    LOYAL    LEGIONIER. 


WRITTEN   FOR    IHIi   NEW    YORK   COMMANDERV    M.   ().  L.  L.  V.  S. 

Air — Son  of  a  Gambolier. 


Lively 


M3i 


Ho!  sol-diers,  sail  -  ors,and     ma-rincs,    I    sing     a     jol  -   ly  blade,  Who 

•^ — « ( — ^ — . —  _, — L— — ^ — ^—  ■■      «— .^- 


Wi 


1/8 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  MONTAUK. 


L ^ ' 


5^55^=3= 


bly  " fit        in  -  to      the  war,''  And  nev  -  er   was     dismayed  ;  Who 


2S=?: 


--I 1-  r-l 1- 

^ — " — 1. — ^"f* — ^~*r 


H5=c 


^^!^^^E 


ttzz 


21 


nev  -  er    was    dismayed,  brave  boys,  Nor  walked  off  on    his  ear;  A 


ir 


: q — , =1- 


5SE^=Ei^M^i^=3^ 


19— -^z 


?al  -   lant  U  -  nion   sav  -  er   was    The    gal  -  lant  Le  -  gion  -  ier. 


z^zziiiz::^^-- 


Chorus. 


The  loy  -  al,    loy  -  al,  loy  -  al,    loy  -  al    Loy  -  al    Le  -  gion-ier,  The 


b=^=5^^=q='^?!=^==5;^« 


:=J5: 


rqs=rp=:qv-i--l ^-A ^43EE3^d==d^=:g^=3g 


--w=^ 


w  _b3^^*^^- — i — ti — •■— • — 1»^^ 


>    i       >    '•'     > 


MARTINIQUr 


179 


^J^E^mUl] 


loy  -  al,    loy  -  al,    loy  -  al,    loy  -  al     Loy  -  al    Le  -  Rion  -  ier  ;  1  k 


_% 1 fk-, — I— K — I 


— -I  — I — •^j 


>    I     ^1     > 


r«     0- 


takes  a    drink.when  he      is    asked,  Of    whiskey,  wine,  or    beer  A 

^1— -^rrx---- 


[f^^3E*=*^3E*Zp^ZJ^^= 


I 1         IS— I         K4-J 


fi 


t==S-=S 


msimj] 


gay  and  fes  -  five  "  so  -  jer  "  Is     the    Loy  -  al      Le  -  gion  -  ier  ;  A 

ff 

S-         -NT-" 


*    ^ 


I 


-il ii"— • •— 1-«- — « — ^' 1— l-li  ji— ^ <*     f-<»-.  11-^ 


>       "•■        w       I  •       I 


i8o 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  MONTAUK. 


gay   and    fes  -  tive  "so  -  jer"   Is      the    Loy  -  al      Le  -  gion-ier. 


53: 


-N       I 


>— r-^— «-^ 


^     J — ^—  — si- 


^       •! w' m 


>      *        *      * 


When  this  cruel  war  was  over  he  laid  down  his  canteen, 

And  soon  upon  Fifth  Avenue  was  daily  to  be  seen, 

Arrayed  in  Devlin's  stunning  suits,  he  gaily  did  appear. 

And  "  mashed  "  the  girls  both  left  and  right — this  Loyal  Legionier. 

He  drives  a  dog-cart  in  the  Park,  he  borrows  from  a  friend — 

Though  always  on  the  borrow,  he  nothing  has  to  lend — 

And  when  the  ladies  see  him  pass,  they  cry  out.  What  a  dear ! 

Quite  fond  of  admiration  is  the  Loyal  Legionier. 

C/wrtts. 

He  is  deep  in  Fred  De  Bary's  books,  and  Park  &  Tilford's  too  : 
He  eats  soft  clams  at  Parker's  ranche,  at  Dorlon's  takes  a  stew  ; 
His  checks  are  in  the  Gilsey  till,  his  notes  are  far  and  near  ; 
He  pays  like  Ancient  Pistol,  does  the  Loyal  Legionier. 


C/iortis, 


So  piously  he  goes  to  church,  and  always  enters  late — 
He  slides  in  after  the  Deacon  has  passed  around  the  plate  ; 
A  pilgrim  at  the  Brunswick  shrine,  he  seeks  the  cafe  rear, 
To  ' '  find  a  man  "  to  worship  with  the  Loyal  Legionier. 


Chorus. 


Republican  of  Stalwart  type,  yet  stanch  Half  Breed  likewise  ; 
He  stands  up  for  Old  Tammany,  with  Irving  Hall  he  lies  ; 
The  County  Democratic  bark  he  stoutly  aids  to  steer — 
No  hide-bound  partisan  is  he,  the  Loyal  Legionier. 


Chorus. 


MARTINIQUE.  I  Si 

His  corns  are  cut  by  Madame  Pray,  his  fingers  manicured, 

His  cheeks  berouged  are  every  day — thus  is  a  blush  secured  ; 

His  teeth  are  false,  his  moustache  dyed,  he  squints  with  glass-eyed  leer, 

His  wig  is  jute,  his  scarf-pin  "  snide,"  this  Loyal  Legionier. 

Chorus. 

He  takes  a  flyer  in  the  street,  and  when  he  wins  he  pays  ; 
If  he  happens  to  be  short,  he'll  ''  settle  one  of  these  days," 
Should  brokers  for  more  margin  call,  he  scorns  the  cry  to  hear, 
He's  one  of  the  boys  fears  no  noise,  this  Loyal  Legionier. 

CJiorus. 

At  length,  when  all  his  cash  is  gone,  and  credit  near  run  out, 
He  joins  the  Prohibitionists,  to  rant  and  tear  and  shoui  ; 
He  sings  with  Sankey,  and  with  Moody  reads  his  title  clear, 
To  Murphyize  and  sell  wind  pies,  this  Loyal  Legionier. 

Cliorus. 

When  all  his  plants  have  run  to  seed,  and  cheek  is  found  no  go, 
He  seeks  a  situation  with  great  Barnum's  moral  show  ; 
Or  deep  in  Colorado's  mines  he  ends  his  bright  career, 
Then  all  at  last  with  him  is  ore,  the  Loyal  Legionier. 

Chorus 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SUNDAY  IN  MARTINIQUE. 

Tropical  Fruits — A  Full  Day's  Work  Sunday — Vespers — The  Club — The 
Opera — II  Trovatore — A  Midnight  Visit  —  Reminiscence  —  Lily- 
Pansy — The  Heart's  Rain-drop. 

St.  Pierre,  March  23,  1884. 

The  variety  of  fruits  to  which  we  pay  attention  at  breakfast 
is  extensive.  I  cannot  remember  the  names  of  all  we  have 
tasted  at  different  times — not  a  la  mode  de  V Alliance ,  squeezed 
into  a  glass,  but  in  their  natural  skins,  as  the  Irish  serve  po- 
tatoes. This,  I  may  remark  in  passing,  is  the  true  artistic 
style  of  cooking  the  potato  ;  boiled  to  the  stage  of  meali- 
ness, and  served  with  the  jacket  on,  unbuttoned  just  enough 
to  show  the  white  shirt  beneath.  The  following  were  some 
of  the  fruits  tested  :  Orange,  lemon,  lime,  banana,  grape, 
musk-melon,  fig,  water-melon,  date,  pine-apple,  sapadilla, 
mango,  pomegranate,  guava,  sweet  tamarind,  shaddock, 
granadilla,  alligator-pear,  sour-sop,  sugar-apple,  star-apple, 
marmi,  and  custard-apple. 

Of  these,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  the  orange  is  the 
best,  the  golden  apple  of  Hesperides  ;  the  next,  according  to 
my  taste — always  excepting  the  pine — is  the  mango,  which 
is  hard  to  eat  because  of  its  stringiness  and  immense  core, 
but  it  it  fine-flavored  and  juicy  ;  so  much  so  that  it  is  a  com- 
mon saying  that  to  eat  mango  one  must  roll  up  the  sleeves 


SUNDAY    IN    MARTINIQUE.  1 83 

and  sit  near  a  tub.  The  sapadilla  is  small  and  sweet,  applc- 
shapcd,  with  two  large  black  seeds  ;  the  custard-apple  resem- 
bles in  appearance  the  puffy  light  balls  children  play  with,  and 
the  contents  look  like  brains  ;  it  is  a  delicious  fruit,  eaten  b\- 
scooping  out  with  a  spoon.  The  avocada,  or  alligator-pear, 
makes  an  excellent  salad ;  the  star-apple  is  palatable;  but 
the  guava,  from  which  the  jelly  of  commerce  is  made,  is 
rather  insipid.  Uncle  John  remarked  that  it  was  like  the 
bar-room  of  a  country-tavern — full  of  "  seeds."  The  shad- 
dock is  an  immense  orange,  with  a  more  pronounced  acid, 
leaving  a  slight  bitter  after-taste  ;  and  the  melons  are  not  as 
good  as  ours.  Indeed,  none  of  the  tropical  fruits  arc  equal 
in  delicate  flavor  to  the  strawberry,  peach,  apple,  and  pear 
of  the  temperate  zone. 

We  went  ashore  this  afternoon  and  attended  vespers  at 
the  cathedral.  The  congregation  was  large,  with  the  relative 
proportion  of  white  and  black  in  the  population  maintained  ; 
or,  if  there  w^as  any  disparity,  the  blacks  had  the  advantage  in 
percentage  of  worshipers. 

Upon  invitation  of  Mr.  Arnoux,  we  visited  the  Cercle  or 
Club,  which  has  a  roomy  house,  with  cool,  stone  floors,  large, 
airy  apartments,  and  an  open  court  with  a  fountain.  Nu- 
merous tables  were  occupied  by  gentlemen  playing  billiards. 
cards,  and  dominos,  smoking  and  drinking.  It  is  unusual  to 
see  the  game  of  dominos  played  at  our  fashionable  clubs  ; 
that  noble  encounter  of  skill  being  consigned  by  oin-  fcsti\e 
blue-bloods  to  the  plebeian  purlieus  of  lager  ;  but  Uncle  John, 
who  is  not  imbued  with  absurd  notions,  saw  in  the  favor  ac- 
corded this  noble  game  an  evidence  of  intellectuality,  which 
commended  the  Martiniquese  to  him  as  a  community  of  ele- 
vated tastes  and  superior  refinement.  He  declined  t<^  take  a 
hand  himself,  for  it  was  Sunday,  and  he  retains  certain  scru- 
ples, implanted   in  childhood,  and  not  entirely  eradicated   by 


l84  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

mature  knowledge  and  the  enllghtement  of  travel  abroad,  but 
we  could  see  his  eyes  glisten  as  he  watched  the  combatants, 
and  longed  for  an  encounter  with  the  Frenchmen,  who  would 
soon  have  become  captive  to  his  bow  and  his  spear  had  his 
Puritan  blood  permitted  the  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  day 
of  Cotton  Mather,  David  Dudley  Field,  and  the  Penal  Code 
of  New  York.  Among  the  officers  whom  we  met  here  was 
a  promising  young  lieutenant,  who  will  make  a  mark  in  the 
naval  profession  if  he  can  conquer  the  shrinking  timidity  and 
bashful  reticence  which  must  operate  greatly  to  his  disadvan- 
tage in  this  pushing,  grasping  world.  In  a  verbal  encounter 
with  the  Commodore,  whose  belt  is  garnished  with  many  a 
tongue  scalp,  he  came  off  triumphant.  That  young  man  has 
a  future  before  him. 

This  party  of  officers  kindly  presented  us  with  tickets  to 
the  opera.  We  had  some  conscientious  scruples  about  lis- 
tening to  unsacred  music  Sunday  night  ;  but  the  spirit  of 
courtesy  which  animates  the  true  gentleman  and  inspires  him 
never  to  refuse  to  take  something  when  asked,  forced  us  to 
do  violence  to  the  feelings  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. I  hope  that  none  of  my  friends,  who  post  their 
books  and  write  business  letters  furtively  between  the  church 
services,  or  who  peep  out  through  the  closed  curtains  to  criticise 
their  neighbors'  new  bonnets,  or  stab  their  reputations  with 
cowardly  innuendo,  on  the  Holy  Sabbath  Day,  will  be  scan- 
dalized by  this  admission.  True,  we  went  to  the  opera  Sun- 
day night,  but  we  offer  the  plea  in  abatement  that  we  were 
away  from  home.  We  were  like  deacons  from  rural  churches 
in  New  York  City,  who  taste  the  iniquities  incognito  ;  or 
teetotalers  traveling  in  Europe,  forced  to  drink  wine  because 
the  water  does  not  agree  with  them.  A  good  many  things 
may  be  done  when  one  is  away  from  home.  Then  every- 
body goes  to  the  Sunday  opera  at  Martinique,  but  everybody 


SUNDAY    IX    MARTINIQUE.  1 85 

was  not  there  this  time.  It  is  Lent,  and  some  ascetics  (igno- 
rant idolaters,  worshipers  of  images  ct  id  \  denied  themselves 
the  pleasure  during  the  penitential  season.  .\nd  I  may  re- 
mark parenthetically  that  man}'  loyal  souls  view  with  alarm 
the  increasing  tendency  to  make  Lent  fashionable  in  New 
York,  to  use  flowers  at  Easter,  and  indulge  in  other  papis- 
teries  ;  machinations  of  the  subtile  Jesuits,  intended  to  en- 
thrall the  conscience,  and  bind  the  people,  hand  and  foot,  in 
the  toils  of  superstition.  I  used  to  hear  something  like  this 
twenty  odd  years  ago.  and  as  there  is  more  reason  for  it  now 
than  there  was  then,  I  sound  the  alarm.  Rally  on  the  Sab- 
bath-school ! 

It  was  a  motley  and  heterogeneous  assemblage  at  the 
St.  Pierre  Opera  House.  Spectators  going  to  the  play,  well- 
dressed  ladies  with  their  attendants  ;  negroes,  men,  women, 
and  children  ;  peddlers,  soldiers,  policemen,  and  a  variety  of 
outsiders,  jabbering  and  gesticulating,  were  gathered  in  the 
large  elevated  paved  court,  in  front  of  the  spacious  building, 
reached  by  a  flight  of  steps  from  the  street.  One  had  to 
shoulder  a  way  through  the  crowd.  A  confusion  of  sound 
invaded  \\\q:  foyer ,  through  the  open  windows,  and  penetrated 
to  the  boxes  when  doors  were  opened  to  admit  the  air. 
Bo.xes  were  pretty  well  filled,  but  evidently  not  with  the 
fashionables.  Some  of  them  were  occupied  by  half-breeds, 
and  there  was  a  sprinkling  of  negroes.  There  was  a  large 
audience  in  the  parquet  and  upper  circles.  The  interior  was 
dark,  not  altogether  owing  to  the  complexion  of  the  audi- 
tors, but  to  the  absence  of  gas.  We  are  so  accustomed  to 
brilliant  light  at  home  that  oil  illumination  seems  inade- 
quate. I  believe  there  is  no  gas  used  in  the  West  In- 
dies, except  at  Kingston  and  Havana.  A  large  chande- 
lier which  lighted  this  theatre  was  let  down  between  the  acts 
to  be  trimmed. 


1 86  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE    MONTAUK. 

We  found  that  the  opera,  Verdi's  "  Le  Trouvere,"  was  to 
be  preceded  by  a  drama,  "  Le  Medecin  des  Enfants,"  which, 
hke  all  five-act  French  plays,  was  stupid  and  dreary.  We 
could  hear  imperfectly  and  understood  little,  except  M'sieti  ! 
when  one  shoulder-shrugger  was  denounced  by  another  fel- 
low, who  was  down  on  him  for  some  cause  that  could  not  be 
ascertained  until  the  end  of  the  fifth  act.  We  left  early  and 
started  to  return  to  the  yacht,  determined  not  to  countenance 
Sabbath-breaking  when  we  couldn't  understand  the  play. 
Meeting  some  acquaintances  outside,  we  reconsidered  this 
pious  resolve,  and  remained  until  the  appearance  of  the 
Troubadour,  passing  the  time  meanwhile  in  promenading  the 
foyer,  admiring  the  exaggerated  ear-rings  of  the  oleaginous 
negresses  who  presided  over  the  buffet ;  with  occasional  ex- 
cursions to  outlying  wineshops,  to  see  a  man  we  expected  to 
find  there,  and  who  didn't  come. 

Here  I  might  stop  and  moralize  on  the  temptations  that  be- 
set the  path  of  the  righteous-minded,  the  pitfalls  set  by  genial 
naval  officers,  and  the  allurements  of  Satan  generally  ;  but  I 
refrain.  I  will  save  my  homily  and  give  it  to  my  friend  the 
Doctor,  for  his  next  two  hundred  and  fifth  annual  sermon  to 
young  men. 

About  II  o'clock,  the  curtain  rose  on  the  first  act  of"  II 
Trovatore."  The  chorus  singers  were  principally  white  (as 
the  Alderman  said,  when  asked  by  the  Inspector  of  Election 
where  he  was  born,  "principally  in  Ireland"),  with  an  ad- 
mixture of  black,  something  like  a  bag  of  white  beans  with  a 
few  black  ones  thrown  in.  It  was  funny  to  see  these  colored 
chorus  singers.  Manrico  was  passable,  with  a  robust  voice  ; 
Aa7iccna  fair,  and  Eleanora.  with  a  good  method,  had  seen 
better  days  on  the  stage  ;  the  orchestra  was  poor,  and  the 
choruses  fairly  rendered.  As  the  opera  threatened  to  last  un- 
til one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  left  after  the  first 


SUNDAY   IN   MARTINIQUE.  iSj 

act.  The  outside  crowd  was  still  quite  large  as  we  jostled 
through.  The  dark  mixture,  with  an  occasional  white  dot, 
was  loud-voiced,  demonstrative,  and  appeared  to  strange 
eyes  turbulent,  but  was  really  good-natured  and  well-behaved. 
There  was  no  drunkenness.  It  was  not  at  all  like  an  Ameri- 
can crowd. 

As  we  sat  on  deck,  smoking  a  ruminative  cigar,  some 
time  afterward,  a  passing  boat,  which  we  hailed,  proved  to  be 
the  cutter  of  the  Alliance,  with  some  officers,  returning  to  the 
ship,  singing  vociferously  "  The  Loyal  Legionier."  They  were 
promptly  arrested  for  keeping  open  boat  on  Sunday,  and 
taken  aboard.  After  inflicting  on  them  a  few  sacred  songs, 
they  were  released  on  parole,  and  rowed  away  singing 
"  Fare  ye  well,  ladies,  we're  going  to  leave  you  now."  As 
we  had  no  ladies  on  board,  they  were  probably  serenading 
those  we  bear  constantly  in  mind.  We  could  hear  the  clear, 
reedy  tenor  of  Paymaster  McGowan,  singing  in  the  Frencli 
vernacular  Victor  Hugo's  exquisite  Cha)itcc,  Dormer:  ;  until 
the  boat  neared  the  Alliance — when  discipline  opened  its 
mouth  and  swallowed  melody. 

We  remained  on  deck  a  short  time  after  the  officers  left, 
to  cool  off  before  turning  in,  as  is  the  habit,  and  watched  the 
lights  that  glowed  from  the  dark  mountain-side.  On  the 
eminence  gleamed  two  glaring  range-lights,  guiding  the  mar- 
iner to  a  safe  anchorage.  Directly  underneath  was  a  shrine 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  with  a  small  lamp  burning  before  it  ; 
situated  near  a  quaint  old  church,  nearly  in  ruins,  which  we 
had  seen  by  daylight.  The  lanterns  of  commerce,  high- 
placed  overhead,  shone  forth  bold  and  confident,  attracting 
attention  from  every  quarter,  while  the  light  of  faith  twinkled 
tremulously  in  a  recess  below,  requiring  close  scrutiny  to  be 
discernible. 

Uncle  John,  who  did  not  go  to  the  opera,  said  that  if  we 


1 88  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

had  remained  aboard  we  would  have  heard  sweeter  music 
in  the  cathedral  chimes  that  came  from  shore,  filling  the  ear 
melodiously,  while  the  night  breeze  fanned  the  cheek,  than 
we  could  find  in  the  thumping  crash  of  kettle-drum,  and  harsh 
blare  of  trumpet  in  the  orchestra  of  a  heated  theatre.  Uncle 
John  believes  in  observing  Sunday  after  the  manner  of  his 
forefathers. 

Our  sympathetic  friend,  who  is  keenly  alive  to  soul-stir- 
ring influences,  is  right.  There  is  something  sweet  and  touch- 
ing in  a  strain  of  music,  stealing  gently  over  the  water ;  and 
what  other  sound  so  soothing  and  harmonious  as  the  chime 
of  church  bells,  soft,  rhythmic,  and  sonorous,  voicing  upon 
the  listening  evening  air  the  solemn  tones  of  holy  vesper 
prayer  !  They  sweep  over  the  heartstrings  with  a  touch  that 
evokes  the  tenderest  emotions.  They  roll  away  from  the 
tomb  the  stone  that  hides  most  precious  memories,  which 
appear,  to  the  introspective  glance,  revealed  in  the  light  of 
other  days. 

I  sit  alone  in  the  silent  night,  watching  the  sleepless  glim- 
mer of  the  star-like  guardian  of  the  shrine,  and  thoughts  of 
vanished  years  come  sweeping  by  ;  some  flower-shod,  gliding 
with  light  and  airy  step  ;  some  weighed  down  by  clogging 
care,  stumbling,  heavy  and  grief-laden.  And  it  seems  to  me 
as  if  these  were  louder  in  the  ear,  and  that  the  patter  of  joy's 
tripping  footfall  is  but  faintly  heard  amid  the  tramping  echoes 
of  dull-paced  sorrow. 

Many  bright  threads  are  shot  through  the  dark  web  of 
reminiscence.  I  think  of  many  charming  objects  ;  I  think  of 
the  two  sisters  whose  contrasted  beauty  caused  them  to  be 
named  endearingly  by  the  flowers  they  resembled  ;  and  the 
lines  which  convey  the  description  of  this  double  flower,  occur 
to  me  as  they  dwell  in  my  mind. 


SUNDAY   IN   MARTINIQUE.  1 89 

Lilv-Pansy. 

I  love  sweet  Lily,  lucent,  fair. 

Serene,  blue-eyed,  with  corn-silk  hair, 
Teeth,  seed-pearls  white,  peach-blow  tinct  cheek  : — 

Ought  I  another  beauty  seek  ! 

I  love  sweet  Lily  ;   Lily  sweet. 

And  yet  I  love  sweet  Pansy  too, 

Though  her  clear  eyes  are  gray,  not  blue, 

Her  hair  of  deepest  nut-brown  shade — 
Dark-browed,  dew-lipped,  delicious  maid! 
I  love  sweet  Pansy  ;   Pansy  sweet. 

Can  I  love  both  alike,  you  ask  ; 

To  tell  would  be  an  endless  task, 
Enough  that  round  my  soul  entwined 

Sweet  Lily-Pansy  still  I  find. 

I  love  sweet  Lily- Pansy  sweet. 

Until  for  aye  1  sink  to  rest, 

Pll  hug  these  flowers  to  my  breast, 
Nor  even  Death's  cold  touch  can  part 

Sweet  Lily-Pansy  from  my  heart. 

I  love  sweet  Lily-Pansy  sweet. 

For  when  my  spirit  soars  above, 

T'will  bear  this  everlasting  love, 
Enchrisomed  for  bright  realms  of  bliss 

By  pure,  sweet  Lily-Pansy  kiss. 

I  love  sweet  Lily-Pansy  sweet. 

We  have  time  for  thought  at  sea,  and  must  think  whether 
we  would  or  no,  for  we  are  without  the  usual  employments 
which  divert  the  mind  from  the  march  of  brooding  contem- 
plation. Thoughts  come  unbidden,  like  visitors  to  some 
temple,  open  to  all,  who  throng  the  swinging  portals  in  ever- 
shifting  succession.      Man)'  are  there  that  we  would  fain  ex- 


I90  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

elude ;  many  bearing  burdens  of  disappointment,  errors, 
blighted  hopes  and  ambitions,  which  they  lay  at  the  door  ; 
and  none  may  enter  without  passing  maimed  regrets,  mis- 
shapen projects,  withered  aspirations,  and  cripples  of  mis- 
spent time,  begging  the  alms  of  charitable  forgetfulness.  It 
is  hard  to  forget.  Ah  !  precious  draught  of  nepenthe  !  If 
we  could  but  live  our  lives  over  !  If  we  could  go  back — scd 
nulla  retrorsinn.  Fortunately  we  have  not  the  power  of  pres- 
cience or  we  would  be  plunged  in  a  gulf  of  ever-present  grief 
of  anticipation. 

Musing  with  a  distant  object  in  view,  one  connects  it  in- 
sensibly with  something  in  the  past,  which  cannot  be  disso- 
ciated ;  some  thought  that  haunts  with  persistent  recurrence. 
The  twinkle  of  yonder  taper  before  the  shrine  of  holy  mother- 
hood is  reflected  in  the  pool  of  memory  as  the  vigil  candle, 
shedding  its  blessed  rays  upon  a  face,  beautiful  in  beatific 
repose,  smiling  in  happy  release  from  life's  troublous  journey  ; 
one  crossed  hand  of  moulded  whiteness  holding  the  last 
tear-stained  flower  of  earthly  remembrance,  the  other — a  stafip 
and  support  in  the  path  beyond  the  stars — grasping  the  Chris- 
tian emblem  of  salvation. 

But  what  is  this  ?  A  drop  of  rain  upon  my  hand.  Has 
a  summer  shower  come  up  suddenly  and  unannounced  !  I 
look  above.  There  is  no  cloud  in  the  twinkling  midnight 
sky,  not  even  a  fleeting  vapor  to  obscure  the  ethereal  dome. 
It  is  an  exhalation,  drawn  up  from  the  fountain  of  the  heart 
by  the  rays  of  reminiscent  fancy,  and,  condensed  in  the  cloud 
of  sad  memory,  falling  in  crystal  balm  ;  for  it  is  a  reminder 
of  the  well-beloved  who  remain.     And  so,  good  night ! 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MUSICAL   MUSINGS. 

Our  Chum — Thoughts  on  Music — BaHads — Plagiarism  —  "  Wearing  of 
the  Green" — "Sweet  By  and  By" — "  Aileen  Aroon"  vs.  "Robin 
Adair" — "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee" — "  (j roves  of  Blarney"— 
"Home  Sweet  Home  " — The  Spanish  Main — Gulf  of  Paria — Sunset. 

Port  ok  Spain,  Trinidad,  March  26,  1884. 

We  sailed  from  St.  Pierre  on  the  morning  of  the  24th. 
Such  a  firm  friendship  had  been  formed  with  the  officers  of 
the  Alliance  that  we  arranged  to  continue  together  as  long 
as  possible,  and  to  this  end  the  sailing  orders  of  both  vessels 
were  conformed.  The  Alliance  put  to  sea  before  the  Mon- 
tauk,  and  soon  became  becalmed,  but  a  light  breeze  favoring 
us,  we  were  enabled  in  a  short  time  to  reach  her  vicinity, 
where  in  turn  our  sails  flapped  idh'  on  the  masts.  The  Alli- 
ance signaled  a  greeting,  to  which  we  responded  with  an  invi- 
tation to  come  aboard,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Captain  Reed 
and  Lieutenants  Rich  and  Gulick  were  alongside.  While  we 
were  taking  a  cup  of  coffee  in  the  saloon,  a  slight  motion  was 
felt,  and  Captain  Reed,  looking  out  of  the  companion-way, 
di'^covered  that  a  breeze  had  sprung  up.  The  yacht  had  con- 
siderable way  on  when  the  officers  re-embarked  in  their  gig, 
and  the\'  had  a  pretty  long  pull  to  their  shin.  We  dipped 
our  colors  as  a  parting  salute,  and  sailed  away  on  the  wave 
of  answering  recognition,  with  a  cargo  of  recollections  of 
pleasant  days  spent  in  the   congenial   companionship  of  f^en- 


192  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

tlemen  who  gracefully  maintain  the  high  character  borne  by 
United  States  Naval  officers  everywhere. 

The  Alliance  was  bound  for  St.  Lucia,  on  the  leeward 
side.  We  were  to  pass  the  island  on  the  way  to  Trinidad, 
but  Lieutenant  Rich,  navigator  of  the  Alliance,  advised  us  to 
go  to  windward,  if  we  were  able  to  beat  up  between  the  isl- 
ands. This  we  accomplished  without  difficulty.  Sailing  close- 
hauled  on  the  wind  is  the  Montauk's  "  best  hold,"  as  she  has 
frequently  demonstrated  in  racing  contests.  The  wind  fa- 
vored us  and  we  reeled  off  the  knots  as  deftly  as  our  grand- 
mothers spun  yarn  on  their  busy  wheels.  The  Alliance  was 
soon  astern.  She  is  not  a  fast  ship  at  best,  and  as  the  Navy 
Department  will  not  permit  coal  to  be  consumed  when  wind 
can  be  employed,  she  had  to  use  sail.  Wind  is  cheap — ex- 
cept in  Congress,  where  it  is  an  enormous  expense  to  the 
country.  It  would  seem  as  if  all  the  economy  within  the 
control  of  our  Government  was  saved  for  the  Navy  ;  and  ad- 
ministered in  large  doses.  While  Captain  Reed  was  paying 
his  parting  visit,  the  Commodore  jocosely  offered  him  a  tow, 
which  he  refused.  As  the  Alliance  pleasantly  declined  our 
tow,  we  kindly  showed  her  our  heels. 

After  leaving  these  jolly  tars,  the  antiquated  ditties  which 
we  sang  together  in  our  festivities  still  rang  in  my  ears,  and 
musing  over  them  I  was  reminded  of  the  change  in  taste  that 
follows  increasing  wealth,  luxury,  and  refinement,  producing 
that  musical  culture  which  demands  the  more  elaborate  and 
pretentious  examples  of  harmonic  art.  Masses,  operas,  and 
oratorios,  works  of  great  masters,  are  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  artistic  vocalization,  but  these  require  large  cities 
and  rich  communities  for  their  exemplification.  But  the  bal- 
lad comes  from  the  people  ;  the  melody  which  survives  all 
the  rough  treatment  of  the  inartistic  voice  and  inaccurate 
ear — which  lives  through  generations — springs    up    without 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  1 93 

cultivation.  It  is  like  the  untutored  warbling  of  the  bird ; 
like  the  spring  that  flows  spontaneously  from  the  cartli. 
Glees,  madrigals,  and  choruses  have  their  harmonized  beauty, 
but  the  affecting  strain  is  found  in  the  simple  ballad.  It  is 
an  impulsive  emotion,  finding  utterance  through  the  medium 
of  song,  where  words  and  melody  seem  fitted  to  each  other 
indissolubly.  Andrew  Fletcher,  of  Saltoun,  said,  a  couple  of 
centuries  ago,  that  he  "  knew  a  very  wise  man  that  believed 
that,  if  a  man  were  permitted  to  make  all  the  ballads,  he  need 
not  care  who  should  make  the  laws  of  a  nation." 

Ballads  do  not  come  from  prosperity  ;  they  are  not  born 
amid  the  dazzle  and  glitter  of  wealth,  the  engrossments  of 
searing  success.  They  are  often  the  sighs  of  heart-soreness, 
the  wails  of  sorrow,  outpourings  of  grief,  the  coinage  of  af- 
fliction, fused  in  the  crucible  of  misfortune,  stamped  with  the 
die  of  anguish.  They  give  vent  to  the  tendercst  emotions  ; 
they  are  frank  and  truthful ;  in  them  may  be  traced  the  un- 
derlying character  of  a  people. 

Ireland  is  pre-eminently  the  land  of  ballads.  No  other 
country  has  produced  so  many  beautiful  airs.  No  other  land 
has  sufifered  greater  oppression.  She  has  been  struggling  for 
centuries  against  a  superior  force,  to  which  she  has  never 
yielded,  and  against  which  she  will  continue  to  struggle — in- 
effectually perhaps — so  long  as  there  is  a  drop  of  true  Irish 
blood  flowing  in  Irish  veins.     As  the  patriotic  ballad  has  it : 

"  Then  if  the  color  \vc  must  wear  is  England's  cruel  red. 

Sure  Ireland's  sons  will  ne'er  forget  the  blood  that  they  have  shed. 
You  may  take  the  shamrock  from  your  hat,  and  cast  it  on  the  snd. 
Hut  'twill  take  root  and  flourish  still,  though  under  foot  'tis  tnnl. 
When  the  law  can  stop  the  blades  of  grass  from  growing  as  they  grow, 
And  when  the  leaves  in  summer-time  their  verdure  dare  not  show, 
Then  I  will  change  the  color  1  wear  in  my  caubeen, 
But  till  that  day,  please  God,  I'll  stick  to  the  wearing  of  the  green." 
13 


194  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK, 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  Irish  music  is  the  plaintive 
minor  that  runs  through  it,  tinging  even  the  jolly  jigs,  rol- 
licking reels,  and  heel-compelling  strathspeys.  Many  of  the 
most  popular  of  our  modern  airs  are  adaptations  of  these 
melodies  ;  appropriated  without  credit,  transformed  and  modi- 
fied ;  oftentimes  mutilated,  for  it  is  hard  to  improve  on  the 
originals,  and  almost  any  change  is  a  disfigurement. 

An  example  of  plagiarism  (the  failure  to  notice  which 
heretofore  argues  general  ignorance  of  Irish  music)  is  found 
in  the  popular  Sunday-school  hymn,  "  Sweet  By  and  By  ;  " 
rather  a  nonsensical  sort  of  composition  so  far  as  the  words 
go,  but  pleasing  and  attractive  in  sound.  It  is  taken  from  an 
old  air,  called  "  Sly  Patrick,"  to  which  Moore  wrote  some 
verses,  included  in  his  collection  of  "  Irish  Melodies."  The 
parody  changes  the  notation  and  substitutes  a  strongly  ac- 
centuated staccato  for  the  flowing  cantabilc,  6-8  time,  of 
the  original.  If  you  have  a  copy  of  "  Moore's  Melodies  " 
with  Sir  John  Stevenson's  arrangement  (my  volume  was  pub- 
lished in  Dublin,  but  I  think  there  is  an  American  edition), 
take  the  ballad,  "  Has  Sorrow  Thy  Young  Days  Shaded," 
and  play  it  staccato  ;  then  play  "  Sweet  By  and  By,"  slightly 
legato,  and  see  if  the  theme  is  not  the  same,  varied  only  in 
the  effort  to  conceal  the  origin. 

This  is  the  Irish  melody  : 


HAS  SORROW  THY  YOUNG  DAYS  SHADED. 

A  iR — Sly  Patrick. 


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MUSICAL   MUSINGS. 


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196 


THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 


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Has  love  to  that  soul,  so  tendei", 

Been  like  our  Lagenian  mine, 
Where  sparkles  of  golden  splendor 

All  over  the  surface  shine. 
But  if  in  pursuit  we  go  deeper, 

All  lured  by  the  gleam  that  shone, 
Ah  !  false  as  the  dreams  of  the  sleeper, 

Like  Love,  the  bright  ore  is  gone. 

Has  Hope,  like  the  bird  in  the  story, 

That  flitted  from  tree  to  tree 
With  the  talisman's  glittering  glory. 

Has  Hope  been  that  bird  to  thee  ? 
On  branch  after  branch  alighting, 

The  gem  she  did  still  display, 
And,  when  nearest  and  most  inviting, 

Then  waft  the  fair  gem  away. 


If  thus  the  young  hours  have  fleeted, 
When  sorrow  itself  looked  bright ; 

If  thus  the  fair  hope  hath  cheated, 
That  led  thee  alonir  so  light ; 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  1 9/ 

If  thus  the  cold  world  now  wither 

Each  feeling  that  once  was  dear — 
Come,  child  of  misfortune,  come  hither, 

I  weep  with  thee,  tear  for  tear. 


Now  contrast  with  these  exquisite  words  the  namby- 
pamby  language  of  "  Sweet  By  and  By,"  which,  hke  too 
many  hymns  in  the  ordinary  church  collections,  is  puerile  : 
"There's  a  land  that  is  fairer  than  day  :  turn  ti  tum.  In  the 
sweet  by  and  by,  tum-ti-tum,  we  will  meet  on  that  beautiful 
shore,  tum-ti-tum  ;  in  the  swee-e-eet  by  and  by,  tum-ti-tum, 
we  will  meet  on  that  beautiful  sl\ore,  tum-ti-tum." 

Poor  old  Ireland  !  She  has  not  only  been  ravished  by 
invaders,  despoiled  and  oppressed  in  every  way,  but  even 
her  songs  have  been  pilfered.  The  boldest  of  all  thefts  of 
this  kind  is  the  air  known  to  the  world  as  "Robin  Adair." 
This  is  a  larceny  pure  and  simple.  The  orii^inal  is  "Aileen 
Aroon "  {Eihhlin  a  ruin),  a  very  ancient  Irish  melody. 
By  the  interpolation  of  three  notes,  and  a  flourish  which 
might  be  introduced  ad  libitiun  in  any  song,  poor  Ailccn 
Aroon  changes  her  sex  and  becomes  Robin  Adair.  The 
arrangement  is  the  same  in  both  pieces  :  the  measure 
three-quarters  time  and  the  key  two'  flats.  By  dividing  the 
crotchet  notes,  f,  g,  and  a,  of  the  refrain  into  dotted  quavers, 
which  give  it  a  halting,  jerking  motion,  ungainly  compared 
with  the  smooth  movement  of  the  original,  the  change 
is  effected.  In  "Aileen  Aroon,"  the  refrain  ascends  in  a 
gradual,  natural  crescendo,  soft  and  mellifluous,  while  in 
"  Robin  Adair,"  the  three  excrescent  notes  detract  from 
the  symmetrical  simplicity,  which  is  the  great  charm  of  the 
original. 

This  is  the  old  Irish  air,  with  Moore's  words : 


198 


THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 


ERIN !  THE  TEAR  AND  THE  SMILE  IN  THINE  EYES. 


Air — A  ileen  A  roon. 


PP 


i^=Mi 


:i:=*=E 


■Jt^z 


;~z:i=:=*===ff 


iH 


smile    in     thine 


eyes 


Blend    like     the 


Rain 


^*£E?=^=E^ 


bow    that 


r-^- 


:4j^z 


smile    in     thine 


Blend    like       the       Rain    -    bow    that 


^ 


.^^ 


smile  in   thine     eyes         Blend like      the        Rain    -    bow    that 


m:=z^zzL-i 


P 


m^^M 


— , ^__i r*- — I- 


t=^z 


C7'es. 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS. 


199 


;*= 


=|: 


—I         I 


::^d=^^^^:^-e=z^:e^^^^^^^^=^=m^ 


hangs  in      thy             skies !         Shin-ing      thro'  sor-row's  stream, Sadd'ning  thro' 
-^-« c^-i -r^ c^—i — g — •— n« — m — ^ j 


r=) 1 J= 


-'  a^   t>« 


3^^=g 


^=^ 


I 1— 


f?=3- 


hangs  in      thy  skies!  Siiin-ing  thro'   sor-row's  stream, Sadd'ning  thro' 


-g»:=J!^t 


hangs  in  thy        skies!         Shin-ing     thro' sor-row's stream,Sadd'ning thro' 


:«=§s=a 


:q=;- 


=^= 


Shin-ing     thro'  sor-row's  stream,Sadd'ning  thro' 

tilHl^iiilli^iiiisl^ 


b=h 


;;>p 


r-=s: 


Igli^ 


pleasure's  beam,Thy   suns  with   doubt-ful  gleam, Weep  while  they       rise! 


^^ipl^=l^i^§pljli? 


pleasure's  beam. 


with     doubtful  gleam,  Weep  while  they        rise  ! 


^?^^l=^^^^^^ffe^^i^i^^^i 


pleasure's  beam, Thy    suns    with  doubtful  gleam,  Wcop        while  they   rise  ! 

'  SEiiEglLZg^Zl-EE:^ . 

I        I 

-4- 


— zzrn: 


=p=;s 


i^: 


V" 


^iii 


«    «    « 


200  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Then  the  words  of  the  old  Irish  lay  are  beautiful  in  the 
vernacular.     I  give  three  of  the  verses  by  Gerald  Griffin  : 

When  like  the  early  rose, 

Aileen  aroon, 
Beauty  in  childhood  glows, 

Aileen  aroon. 
When  like  a  diadem, 
Buds  blush  around  the  stem, 
Which  is  the  fairest  gem  ? 

Aileen  aroon. 

Is  it  the  laughing  eye  ? 

Aileen  aroon, 
Is  it  the  timid  sigh  ? 

Aileen  aroon. 
Is  it  the  tender  tone, 
Soft  as  the  stringed  harp's  moan  ? 
No  ;  it  is  Truth  alone, 

Aileen  aroon. 

Who  in  the  song  so  sweet  ? 

Aileen  aroon, 
Who  in  the  dance  so  fleet  ? 

Aileen  aroon. 
Dear  are  her  charms  to  me. 
Dearer  her  laughter  free. 
Dearest  her  constancy, 

Aileen  aroon. 

Here  is  a  specimen  verse  of  "  Robin  Adair  "  : 

What  makes  th'  Assembly  shine  ? 

Robin  Adair, 
What  makes  the  ball  so  fine  ? 

Robin  Adair. 
What  when  the  play  was  o'er, 
What  made  my  heart  so  sore  ? 
Oh !  it  was  parting  with 

Robin  Adair. 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  20I 

It  was  bad  enough  to  steal  the  music,  but  to  clothe  the 
air  in  such  tawdry  apparel  as  this  was  outrageous. 

The  story  told  of  the  origin  of  the  parody  is  this.  The 
daughter  of  an  English  earl,  riding  in  the  country,  was  thrown 
from  a  carriage  and  had  her  leg  broken.  She  was  taken  to 
an  inn  near  the  scene  of  the  accident,  and  a  physician  was 
summoned,  who  happened  to  be  an  Irish  doctor,  named  Robin 
Adair.  He  attended  her  until  she  recovered,  and  the  peril 
of  propinquity  with  handsome  young  Irishmen  was  attended 
with  the  usual  result — she  fell  in  love  with  the  doctor.  The 
rich  young  lady  could  not  marry  the  poor  physician,  so  the 
course  of  true  love  failed  to  run  smooth,  and  they  were  forced 
to  part.  But  during  her  illness  the  lady  had  often  heard  the 
doctor  sing  "Aileen  Aroon  " — which  he  had  learned  from  his 
mother  rocking  his  cradle — and  the  melody  echoed  in  her 
constant  heart,  long  after  the  seductive  tones  of  the  Irishman 
(who  takes  to  love-making  as  naturally  as  a  duck  to  water) 
were  silent  to  her  ear.  But  I  wish  that  the  noble  lady,  who 
was  doubtless  a  lovely  woman  like  Bella  Wilfer,  had  written 
some  better  lines  when  she  appropriated  this  sweetest  of  mel- 
odies :  which  Handel  said  he  would  rather  be  the  author  of 
than  of  any  of  his  masterly  compositions. 

I  once  asked  Patrick  Sarsfield  Gilmore,  after  Arbuckle  had 
played  "  Robin  Adair"  w^ith  uncqualed  grace  of  rendition, 
why  the  great  cornetist  didn't  play  "Aileen  Aroon,"  without 
the  superfluous  notes,  which  would  sound  much  better,  partic- 
ularly as  the  mute  was  used.  I  remonstrated  with  him  for 
acquiescing  in  the  musical  robbery  of  his  native  land  by  ad- 
vertising the  name  of  the  spurious  imitation  instead  of  the 
genuine  melody.  Gilmore  said  that  he  felt  the  justice  of  the 
criticism,  but  it  was  useless  to  protest.  "  Robin  Adair  "  had 
got  into  the  head  of  the  public,  and  the  intruder  could  not  be 
driven  out ;  the  masses  know  so  little  about  music. 


202  THE    CRUISE    OF   THE    MOXTAUK. 

Then  there  is  that  fine  old  Scotch  ballad,  "  John  Anderson 
my  Jo."  This  tune  is  plagiarized.  It  is  the  Irish  drinking- 
song,  "  Cruiskeen  Lawn,"  introduced  with  so  much  effect  by 
Boucicault  in  the  "  Shaughraun,"  where  it  is  sung  to  the  har- 
monized arrangement  of  Jules  Benedict.  Sit  down  at  the 
piano  and  play  "John  Anderson  my  Jo,"  then  the  "  Cruis- 
keen  Lawn,"  and  see  if  they  are  not  the  same  ! 

We  have  no  American  airs.  Our  soil  doesn't  grow  music, 
and  we  are  forced  to  import.  We  have  transplanted  "  God 
Save  the  Queen,"  and  rechristened  it  "America."  This  is 
sheer  audacity  and  dishonesty.  I  have  no  patience  with  the 
Sabbath-school,  public-building-dedication,  and  celebration 
business,  where  original  lines  are  sung  to  the  tune  of  "  God 
Save  the  Queen,"  and  the  programme  announces  that  the  air 
is  "America."  There  is  no  such  tune  (except  Gilmore's). 
It  is  "  God  Save  the  Queen."  Why  not  call  it  so  ?  Let  us  try 
to  be  honest  in  something.  We  can  afford  to  be  honest  in 
music  ;  we  don't  deal  in  it  to  any  great  extent. 

It  is  well  known,  of  course,  that  the  "  Star-spangled  Ban- 
ner" was  written  by  Key  to  the  air  of  "Anacreon  in  Heaven  ;  " 
while  "Yankee  Doodle"  goes  back  to  the  days  of  Oliver 
Cromwell,  who  was  the  original  Doodle,  satirized  in  the  rhyme  : 

Yankee  Doodle  came  to  town  upon  his  little  pony, 
Stuck  a  feather  in  his  hat  and  called  it  macaroni. 

It  may  have  been  an  unconscious  plagiarism  by  Lowell 
Mason,  but  one  cannot  but  be  struck  by  the  similarity  of  the 
air  of  the  popular  hymn,  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee,"  to 
Moore's  melody,  "  Oft  in  the  Stilly  Night." 

There  is  nothing  in  music  so  effective  as  the  ballad.  One 
can  hear  the  words  as  well  as  the  air,  and  that  is  generally  an 
inspiration.  It  is  not  made  ;  it  grows.  The  delicious  opera 
of  "  Martha,"  with  its  fine  solos  {a. in  appari,  for  example), 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  203 

harmonious  duets,  and  massive  choruses,  affords  an  example  of 
this  superiority.  Nothing  in  it  can  compare  with  the  interjected 
Irish  melody,  "  The  Last  Rose  of  Summer."  It  is  worth  all 
the  rest,  and  Flotow  himself  thought  so.  The  scene  where 
Lady  Harriet,  holding  the  rose  in  hand,  sings  this  gem  of  song, 
and  is  joined  by  Lionel,  who  blends  his  voice  with  hers,  making 
a  duet  finale,  is  the  most  effective  in  the  opera.  When  sung 
in  full  chorus,  too,  the  theme  produces  a  grand  effect.  The  air, 
however,  is  not  "  The  Last  Rose  of  Summer."  Moore  wrote 
these  words  to  the  tune  of  "The  Groves  of  Blarney."  Per- 
haps this  affords  a  good  illustration  of  the  peculiarities  of 
Irish  ballad  music  ;  the  quick  transition  "  from  grave  to  gay, 
from  lively  to  severe  ;  "  the  intermingling  of  pathos  and 
mirth,  of  soulful  tenderness  and  jestful  laughter;  the  co-ex- 
istent smiling  lip  and  w^eeping  heart ;  for  this  air,  of  unsur- 
passed delicacy  of  expression  and  soft  emotional  feature,  is  a 
comic  song.  Here  are  some  of  the  verses,  written  by  Milli- 
ken : 

The  Groves  of  Blarney, 

They  look  so  charming, 

Down  by  the  purlings 

Of  sweet  silent  brooks, 

All  decked  by  posies 

That  spontaneous  grow  there, 

Planted  in  order 

In  the  rocky  nooks. 

'Tis  there  the  daisy, 

And  the  sweet  carnation, 

The  blooming  pink, 

And  the  rose  so  fair  ; 

Likewise  the  lily. 

And  the  daffodilly — 

All  flowers  that  scent 

The  sweet  open  air. 


204  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Such  walls  surround  her, 
That  no  nine-pounder 
Could  ever  plunder 
Her  place  of  strength  ; 
But  Oliver  Cromwell 
Her  did  pommel, 
And  made  a  breach 
In  her  battlement. 

'Tis  there  the  lake  is 
Well  stored  with  fishes, 
And  comely  eels  in 
The  verdant  mud  ; 
Besides  the  leeches, 
And  groves  of  beeches, 
Standing  in  order 
To  guard  the  flood. 

There  is  a  srone  there, 
That  whoever  kisses, 
Oh  !  he  never  misses 
To  grow  eloquent  ; 
'Tis  he  may  clamber 
To  a  lady's  chamber, 
Or  become  a  member 
Of  Parliament; 
A  clever  spouter 
He'll  turn  out,  or 
An  out-an-outer, 
"  To  be  let  alone  ;" 
Don't  hope  to  hinder  him, 
Or  to  bewilder  him, 
Sure  he's  a  pilgrim 
From  the  Blarney  Stone. 

Speaking  of  the  proper  name  of  this  melody,  I  am  re- 
minded of  the  argument  I  had  with  an  intelligent  army  officer, 
of  high  rank,  who  insisted  that  the  **  Wearing  of  the  Green" 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  205 

was  written  to  the  West  Point  tune  of  "  IJcnny  Havens  Oh  !  " 
The  modern  words,  first  sung  in  this  country  by  James  Glenny 
in  the  play  of  "  Arrah  na  Poguc,  "  were  written  after  Lieutenant 
O'Brien  had  composed  "lienny  Havens  Oh  !  "  at  West  Point  ; 
but  the  air  itself  is  very  old,  and  so  is  the  song,  which  was  a 
Hivorite  rebel  lay  of  the  United  Irishmen  during  the  rebellion 
of  1798. 

And  when  I  got  to  Paris,  sure  my  lodgings  I  found  chape, 
They  knew  I  was  United  by  the  green  upon  my  cape." 

It  is  the  same  air  as  "  Irish  Molly  O,"  to  which  Thomas 
Davis,  in  1848,  wrote  the  song  "  The  Green  above  the  Red." 

Nothing  appeals  so  strongly  to  popular  favor  as  a  simple 
and  touching  melody.  Few  knew  that  John  Howard  Payne 
was  the  author  of  several  dramas  of  much  literary  merit,  but 
all  remember  him  as  the  author  of"  Home,  Sweet  Home." 
Yet  the  words  themselves  are  commonplace  ;  thousands  of 
better  lines  by  unknown  authors  have  appeared  and  attracted 
no  attention.  Payne  heard  an  air  in  Sicily  which  caught  his 
fancy,  and  he  put  some  words  to  it,  which  made  him  famous. 
He  did  not  compose  the  music,  and  the  words  have  no  poet- 
ical merit.  It  was  simply  his  felicitous  envelopment  of  the 
idea  of  home  in  a  tender  melody  which  made  him  renown. 

This  tune,  consecrated  as  it  is  to  the  altar  of  home,  has  a 
wonderful  power  over  the  sensibilities.  It  touches  the  very 
depth  of  emotion.  Years  ago,  I  was  wandering,  with  aimless 
step,  through  the  dark  streets  of  an  Italian  city,  one  sultry 
summer  night,  enwrapped  in  that  vague  sense  of  depression 
that  one  is  apt  to  feel  in  a  strange  land,  alone  and  unknown, 
far  from  friends  and  acquaintances.  As  I  sauntered  into 
an  obscure  square,  surrounded  by  houses  of  the  prevalent 
gloomy  style,  frowning  in  the  dim  light,  which  cast  no  shadow, 
but  brought  out  angles  and   projections  in   forbidding  and 


206  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

menacing  shapes,  I  saw  an  irradiation  streaming  through  an 
open  window,  forcing  a  brilHant  pathway  through  the  clouded 
night  for  the  music  that  came  forth  on  it,  measured  and  har- 
monious— '*  Home,  Sweet  Home,"  played  as  a  duet  on  soft 
breathing  flutes.  At  once  the  sombreness  became  illumi- 
nated with  the  radiance  of  recollection,  and  there  was  a 
choking  sensation  in  the  throat  which  made  the  eyes  wink 
sympathetically.  I  stopped  and  lingered  long  near  the  trans- 
figured spot,  where  a  strain  of  music  obliterated  the  sur- 
roundings, and  transported  absorbed  thought,  on  tuneful 
wings,  backward,  across  wide  lands  and  vast  seas,  to  the  early 
home  thousands  of  miles  away.  My  rapt  gaze  would  not 
have  been  surprised  had  it  encountered  in  the  musicians  the 
forms  of  flutists  of  my  boyhood  recollections,  Fargo,  Pratt, 
and  Lines,  who  played  at  Mechanics'  Hall  concerts  in  the 
days  when  Utica  was  famous  for  its  excellence  in  amateur 
music. 

Yet  this  air  had  been  played  and  sung  by  Italian  peas- 
ants long  before  Payne  was  born.  But  his  words  have  be- 
come inextricably  interwoven  with  the  melody  ;  and  while 
the  strain  without  the  words  would  be  a  beautiful  air  and 
nothing  more,  and  the  words  dissociated  would  hardly  be 
worthy  to  be  styled  poetry,  the  two  united  make  a  combi- 
nation of  melody  and  sentiment  which  have  a  stronger  hold 
on  the  feelings  of  the  English-speaking  peoples  than  any  other 
song  in  the  language. 

"  Home,  Sweet  Home  !  "  and  now  the  thought  comes  to 
me  as  I  write — where  is  mine  ? 

We  weathered  St.  Lucia  in  fine  style,  passed  St.  Vincent 
in  the  distance,  and  made  our  course  for  Trinidad  direct. 
After  the  success  in  getting  to  windward  so  easily,  we  re- 
gretted that  we  had  not  arranged  to  touch  at  Barbados, 
where  there  is  more  population  to  the  square  mile  than  in 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  20/ 

any  other  country  in  the  world,  except  China  ;  and  where  we 
could  see  the  Cuffy  of  ancient  days  in  all  his  glory.  There 
the  poor  white  trash  is  tolerated,  but  does  not  occupy  the 
commanding  position  held  in  the  land  of  the  free  and  home 
of  the  brave,  where  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,  even  >f 
some  fail  to  continue  so.  The  famous  Dignity  Ball,  over 
which  Lady  Jane  Smith  presides  with  queenly  grace  and 
despotic  rule,  is  in  itself  worth  a  visit  to  this  island,  which  is 
the  most  English  and  self-sufficient  of  the  West  Indian  de- 
pendencies. It  is  said  that,  in  aristocratic  quality  and  emi- 
nently high  tone,  the  shadeful  Barbadian  patriarcli's  balls 
excel  the  shadowy  assemblages  that,  long  ago,  flickered  on 
the  white-washed  wall  of  Pete  Williams'  saltatory  temple  in 
the  Five  Points  of  New  York. 

About  noon  the  day  after  sailing,  we  came  in  view  of  the 
high  mountains  of  Trinidad.  Far  away  to  the  west,  dimly 
visible,  were  the  cloud-capped  peaks  of  a  spur  of  the  Cordil- 
leras, which  sets  through  Venezuela  to  the  coast.  We  were  at 
length  off  the  coast  of  South  America,  the  scene  of  strangely 
mixed  history  and  fable,  of  bloodshed  and  rapine — the  ro- 
mantic Spanish  Main.  Here  black-visaged  pirates  despoiled 
mighty  galleons  of  their  treasures  of  gold  and  silver,  and  sank 
the  ships  after  making  the  unfortunate  passengers  walk  the 
plank  ;  or  made  incursions  ashore,  ravaging  the  estates  of 
rich  planters,  cutting  the  owners'  throats,  and  carrying  off 
the  lovely  daughters  ;  firing  pistols  at  random,  and  flourish- 
ing cutlasses  with  indiscriminating  recklessness  ;  committing 
all  sorts  of  atrocities  and  raising  the  Old  Scratch  general!)-,  to 
afford  material  for  blood-curdling  recitals  that  fill  with  hor- 
ror the  minds  of  youthful  readers  absorbing  the  record  of 
wonderful  piratical  adventures.  Here  are  met  the  currents 
that  flow  from  the  many-mcnithcd  Orinoco,  through  its  delta, 
into  the  Gulf  of  Paria  ;  thence  oceanward,  offering  obstruct- 


208  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

ive  resistance  to  entrance  through  the  Dragon's  Mouth, 
where  strong  favoring  winds  are  required  to  aid  the  sail  in  its 
passage.  The  mate  of  the  yacht  told  us  that  he  had  once 
lain  off  with  his  vessel  fifteen  days  before  he  could  get  in 
through  this  baffling  barrier.  A  smaller  and  more  direct  pas- 
sage can  be  made  through  the  Ape's  Mouth,  which  is  a  nar- 
row channel  between  the  Island  of  Trinidad  and  a  mountain- 
ous isle  called  Monos,  or  Monkey,  Island,  but  the  current 
setting  through  might  drive  us  on  the  rocks  if  the  wind 
should  give  out,  so  we  determined  not  to  run  the  risk.  The 
cliffs  on  both  sides  are  high  masses  of  rock,  and  although  the 
water  is  deep  enough  up  to  their  base,  we  concluded  that  the 
longest  way  around  was  sometimes  the  shortest  way  across, 
and  accordingly  sailed  through  the  Boca  del  Dragon — the 
name  given  to  this  surly  entrance  by  Columbus  when  he  dis- 
covered Trinidad,  and  still  retained.  A  small,  queer-rigged 
vessel,  with  three  leg-of-mutton  sails,  was  hugging  the  shore 
of  Monos,  and  as  we  entered  the  Dragon's  Mouth,  the  skip- 
per hoisted  his  jigger  sail  and  put  after  us,  thinking,  proba- 
bly, that  as  the  wind  was  light  he  would  have  the  advantage 
and  lead  us  into  port.  But  much  to  his  astonishment,  no 
doubt,  the  Montauk  sailed  along  and  left  him  far  astern.  He 
wasn't  used  to  see  a  schooner  moving  in  that  style,  for  yachts 
are  not  often  met  in  these  waters. 

The  sun  sank  behind  the  Venezuelan  hills  in  a  brilliant 
haze,  and  for  the  first  time  in  weeks  we  saw  a  sunset  by  land. 
We  had  often  watched  him  extinguishing  his  flaming  torch 
in  the  sea  wave,  but  disappearing  behind  the  promontory  of 
Paria  in  a  golden  glory  was  a  reminder  of  the  sunsets  at 
home.  There  was  no  succeeding  twilight,  however,  such  as 
we  have  ;  that  rosy  link  binding  daylight  and  darkness  to- 
gether in  the  tender  obscurity  of  the  most  perfect  hour  of  the 
day  in  our  favored  region.      Here  is  no  hour  like  that  deli- 


MUSICAL   MUSINGS.  209 

cious  time,  for  in  this  tropic  clime  night's  dusky  hand  pulls 
down  the  shade  as  soon  as  sleepy  Sol,  tired  with  his  daily 
round,  has  laid  his  head  beneath  the  crimson  hangings  of  his 
bed. 

At  ten  o'clock  we  dropped  anchor  in  front  of  an  array  of 
lights,  which,  for  aught  we  knew,  might  have  been  an  illum- 
ination in  honor  of  our  arrival,  but  which  we  found  this  morn- 
ing were  on  the  numerous  vessels  at  anchor  in  the  roadstead 
of  the  Port  of  Spain.  And  here  we  are  at  the  island  of  Trin- 
idad, only  six  hundred  miles  from  the  equator. 
14 


CHAPTER  XVL 

PORT    OF    SPAIN. 

Discovery  of  Trinidad — Busy  Port  of  Spain — Race  Types — Coolies — Political  Ig- 
norance— Vulgarisms  in  Language — Botanical  Gardens — An  Impertinent  Bird. 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  March  28,  1884. 

Trinidad  was  discovered  by  Columbus  during  his  third 
voyage.  He  sailed  from  the  Cape  Verd  Islands,  intending  to 
reach  the  equinoctial  line,  but  when  in  the  fifth  degree  of  lati- 
tude north,  became  becalmed  in  the  torpidity  which  prevails 
in  the  region  contiguous  to  the  equator,  known  among  sailors 
as  the  "  Doldrums."  Suffering  greatly  from  the  heat,  which 
was  so  intense  as  to  melt  the  tar  and  open  the  seams  of  his 
ships,  causing  them  to  leak,  he  was  forced  to  seek  a  harbor 
as  quickly  as  possible  in  order  to  repair  damages.  With  this 
intention,  he  kept  to  the  north  and  west,  and,  after  much  anx- 
ious sailing,  sighted  land  on  the  31st  of  July,  1498.  He  was 
reduced  to  great  straits  when  the  welcome  land  appeared. 
There  was  not  more  than  one  cask  of  water  remaining  in  each 
ship.  He  had  resolved  to  name  the  first  land  he  beheld  in 
honor  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  and  as  the  triple  summits  of 
these  mountains  presented  themselves  he  regarded  the  appear- 
ance as  providential,  and  devoutly  named  the  island  La  Trin- 
idad. From  here  he  sailed  to  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  and  along 
the  coast  of  South  America,  which  he  supposed  at  first  to  be 
an  island,  not  knowing  that  he  had  discovered  the  great 
Western  Continent.     Indeed  he  died  without  this  knowledge. 


PORT   OF   SPAIN.  211 

Careful  examination  of  the  indications  caused  him  to  change 
his  first  opinion,  and  he  came  to  the  conchision  that  this  vast 
territory  was  an  extension  of  the  eastern  Asiatic  continent. 
The  writings  of  scientific  men  predicated  this  opinion.  It 
was  based  on  the  hypothesis,  generally  accepted  by  geog- 
raphers, that  but  one-seventh  of  the  earth  was  water,  and  his 
erroneous  judgment  was  natural  in  this  view,  particularly  as 
it  had  the  authority  of  a  corroborative  assertion  in  one  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Geographical  knowledge  in  tliose 
days  was  largely  interwoven  with  fantastic  speculations  and 
ingenious  theories  spun  from  the  imagination. 

Port  of  Spain  presented  a  busy  appearance  when  we  came 
on  deck  the  morning  after  arrival.  Many  sails  were  in  the 
harbor,  or  roadstead,  for  such  it  is  ;  large  steamers  were  lying 
at  anchor,  and  the  bustle  and  animation  showed  this  to  be  a 
seaport  town  of  some  consequence.  Before  turning  out,  we 
could  hear  the  negro  laborers  loading  a  vessel  in  the  vicinity, 
singing  shanty  song.s,  which  sounded  not  unmelodiously  as  the 
rude  chorus,  muffled  in  music-clothing  indistinctness,  shufHed 
down  through  the  companion-way  to  our  drowsy  ears. 

The  first  duty  upon  going  ashore  was  to  telegraph  notice 
of  our  arrival,  so  that  an  an.xious  and  inquiring  world  might 
be  informed  at  the  earliest  moment  of  our  important  where- 
abouts. There  was  a  slight  increase  over  the  Martinique  rate, 
four  words  to  New  York  costing  $11.76.  Ice  was  bought 
at  thirty  dollars  a  ton,  though  two  cents  a  pound  is  the  usual 
price.  Water  was  furnished  aboard  at  a  cent  a  gallon.  I 
make  this  note  of  the  cost  of  water,  ice,  and  telegraphy,  not 
because  it  is  of  any  particular  interest  to  you  now,  but  for 
reference  in  case  you  should  have  a  yacht  built  on  the  Erie 
Canal,  and  sail  away  in  search  of  adventures,  to  form  a  pre- 
text for  inconsiderate  infliction  of  long  letters  on  suffering 
friends. 


212  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Two  unsightly  hulks  are  in  the  harbor,  used  as  coal-yards. 
The  fuel  for  steamer  use  is  a  mixture  of  coal  and  pitch,  pressed 
into  square  blocks,  easily  handled  and  stowed,  and  giving  a 
strong  heat.      It  comes  from  England. 

The  population  of  the  Port  of  Spain  is  a  motley  mixture 
of  English,  French,  Spanish,  Chinese,  negro,  and  Hindoo, 
with  an  occasional  Arab  ;  speaking  a  babel  of  tongues,  a 
patois  with  a  French-Spanish  foundation  predominating.  I 
thought  I  could  hear  the  lingua  franca  of  the  Mediterranean 
frequently.  The  Algerines  are  escaped  convicts  from  the 
hulks  of  Cayenne,  a  refuge  of  sinners,  convicted  and  uncon- 
victed, in  French  Guiana.  They  are  villanous-looking  repro- 
bates, who  would  not  scruple  to  cut  a  throat  for  a  dollar. 
The  United  States  Consul  informed  us  that  they  all  want  to 
go  to  America,  but  our  Government  forbids  their  immigra- 
tion. Therefore  if  any  of  them  reach  our  shores,  with  a  view 
to  utilize  their  early  rascal  experience  by  engaging  in  railroad 
enterprises  in  Wall  Street,  they  will  have  to  be  smuggled  in 
as  cigars  or  boxes  of  tin. 

Probably  no  port  presents  a  greater  variety  of  race  types. 
It  reminds  one  of  Marseilles.  The  most  novel  to  the  traveler 
is  the  Hindoo  coolie,  with  turban  and  two  scant  cotton  gar- 
ments, just  sufficient  to  comply  with  the  demands  of  decency  ; 
dark,  silent,  unsmiling,  yet  mild  and  amiable  enough.  The 
coolie  women,  becomingly  draped,  with  abundant  hair,  reg- 
ular features,  and  flashing  black  eyes,  are  not  uncomely.  They 
wear  much  jewelry,  many  bracelets  and  bangles  on  the  ankles, 
wrists  and  arms,  sometimes  extending  above  the  elbow ; 
heavy  ear-rings,  and  pendents  in  the  nose,  overhanging  the 
lip.  Osculation  must  be  attended  with  some  difficulty,  as 
Uncle  John  remarked  in  his  practical  way.  A  strange  orna- 
ment is  a  gold  bead  screwed  into  the  nostril,  just  as  a  lady 
with  us  wears  a  jewel  in  the  lobe  of  the  ear. 


PORT  OF   SPAIN.  213 

These  coolies  are  brought  over  from  Hindostan,  under 
governmental  supervision.  The  Indian  Government  watches 
their  embarkation  to  prevent  the  degeneration  of  this  emigrant 
system  into  a  slave-trade,  which  it  might  become  if  not 
properly  guarded.  On  their  arrival,  the  coolies  are  indentured 
for  five  years  to  planters  who  desire  to  employ  them,  at  a 
specified  sum,  payable  part  in  cash  and  part  in  rations.  It  is 
a  sort  of  servile  condition,  but  not  slavery  ;  indeed,  the  in- 
dentured apprentice  to  a  master-mechanic  formerly  held  in 
the  United  States  an  analogous  relation  to  his  employer.  At 
the  end  of  five  years,  the  coolie  is  free  to  do  as  he  pleases, 
either  to  reindcnture  himself,  for  not  more  than  a  year — the 
maximum  period  permitted — or  to  seek  employment  else- 
where. After  ten  years'  residence,  he  is  entitled  to  a  free 
passage  back  to  Hindostan.  Many  avail  themselves  of  the 
privilege,  others  exchange  it  for  a  Government  grant  of  ten 
acres  of  land,  which  is  the  equivalent  right.  The  coolies  are 
frugal,  temperate,  and  economical.  They  accumulate  their 
savings  during  the  period  of  indentmcnt,  and  subsequent 
voluntary  employment,  which  become  comparatively  large 
sums  in  Hindostan,  when  they  return.  Unfortunately,  the 
coolies  are  not  Christians,  or  they  m'ight  be  regarded  as  good 
citizens.  They  never  get  drunk  ;  nor  do  they  steal ;  they  are 
quiet  and  orderly  ;  chaste  and  devoted  to  their  families.  But 
they  know  nothing  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  and 
never  contributed  a  penny  to  societies  for  the  support  of  re- 
pentant sinners,  who,  after  squandering  all  their  own  money 
in  debauchery,  reform,  with  blatant  protestation,  and  live 
joyfully  upon  the  alms  of  the  ninety  and  nine  which  need  no 
repentance.  These  well-behaved  pagans  are  steeped  in  pro- 
foundest  ignorance  of  politics.  Uncle  John  asked  an  aged 
and  venerable  Hindoo,  becomingly  arrayed  about  his  loins 
with  a  suggestion  of  small  pocket-handkerchief,   if  he  knew 


214  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

who  was  elected  Mayor  of  Utica,  a  few  weeks  ago.  He  pre- 
tended not  to  understand  ;  but  I  have  a  shrewd  notion  that 
he  may  have  been  some  conspirator  of  high  caste  engaged  in 
an  independent  citizen's  movement,  which  he  did  not  want 
to  give  away,  as  the  slang  saying  goes.  I  may  have  done 
him  injustice  ;  it  is  possible  that  he  was  not  trying  to  hood- 
wink Uncle  John,  but  I  am  always  suspicious  of  the  indepen- 
dent citizens'  movement,  which  is  ordinarily  a  delusion  and  a 
snare.  I  was  myself  ignorant  of  the  result  of  that  important 
event,  the  charter  election  in  the  nucleus  of  politics,  where 
sage  statesmen  sit  oracularly  enwrapped,  but  I  could  get  no 
information,  though  I  inquired  of  the  boatmen  in  every  port. 
Think  of  one  being  in  a  benighted  country  where  nobody 
knows  who  is  Mayor  of  Utica  !  Yet  when  one  comes  to  think 
of  it,  that  is  often  a  problem  with  the  constituency  that  elect- 
ed the  incumbent. 

Despairing  of  getting  political  information  from  the  heathen 
coolie,  I  asked  a  heathen  Chinee  if  he  were  personally  ac- 
quainted with  any  of  the  renowned  leaders  of  the  American 
people — Thomas  F.  Bayard,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  L.  E. 
Pinkham,  John  Kelly,  or  Warner  Zafeguer.  He  listened 
unmoved.  Evidently  I  made  no  impression  on  John  China- 
man. He  didn't  understand  English.  That  may  have  been 
the  reason.  I  then  tackled  a  negro  on  the  dock,  who  listened 
because  he  thought  I  wanted  to  hire  a  boat  when  I  spoke  of 
water.  I  asked  him,  in  my  blandest,  First-Ward-caucus 
manner,  what  he  thought  of  the  chemical  analysis  of  the 
limpid  flood  of  dusky  West  Canada  Creek ;  whether  in  his 
opinion  the  organic  matter  was  present  in  deleterious  propor- 
tion ;  whether  rocky  comminution  would  injure  the  quality 
of  picnic  lemonade  ;  whether  the  Hinckley's  Mills  exuviae 
impregnated  the  stream  to  an  appreciable  infusion  ;  whether 
— but  he  interrupted   me  before  I  could  complete  the  Civil 


PORT   OF   SPAIN.  215 

Service  examination,  and  said,  "  Don't  know  nuthin'  about  it, 
Cap  ;  I  drinks  rum." 

The  Cimmerian  ignorance  of  this  parti-colored  people  is 
lamentable.  I  presume  a  large  proportion  of  the  variegated 
population  doesn't  even  know  whether  the  Roosevelt  bill  has 
passed  ;  and  take  no  interest  in  the  great  contest  between 
Mayor  Edson  and  Commissioner  Asten  about  the  salary  of  a 
clerk  in  the  Tax  Ofifice,  which  shakes  Johnny  O'Brien's  parish 
to  its  centre.  I  thought  I  saw  a  man  who  looked  as  if  he 
were  in  favor  of  Tecumsch  for  President.  He  was  a  Carib 
Indian.  He  may  have  been  a  descendant  of  the  King  of  the 
Cannibal  Islands.  I  had  a  notion  to  ask  him  some  questions 
about  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  how  he  kept  Good  Friday  on  the 
neighboring  island  of  Tabago,  but  refrained,  from  prudential 
motives,  not  entirely  disconnected  with  the  integrity  of  my 
cuticle.  I  wanted  to  inquire  if  his  name  were  Hokey-Pokey- 
"Winkey-Wang,  but  he  had  a  wicked  look  in  his  eye,  and 
I  have  grown  stout  during  this  voyage,  and  feared  to  run  the 
risk  of  conversion  into  an  Irish  stew,  such  as  the  Coroner 
sings  about,  in  "  The  Regular  Army,  Oh  !  " 

The  coolie  system  is  the  substitution  of  free  labor  under 
indenture  for  the  abolished  slavery,  and  it  would  seem  to 
work  well.  Something  of  the  kind  was  necessary  to  insure 
the  cultivation  of  the  land,  for  the  negro  will  not  work  if  he 
can  avoid  it,  while  whites  cannot  labor  in  the  cornfields.  I 
was  told  in  Cuba  some  years  ago  that  white  labor  was  cm- 
ployed  there  successfully,  but  I  doubt  if  it  can  be  utilized  to 
any  considerable  extent. 

A  good  many  Chinese  are  to  be  seen  in  Trinidad,  who  are 
peaceable  and  harmless,  minding  their  own  business  in  un- 
puritanical  fashion.  The  negroes  are  insolent  and  unpleasant 
persons  to  deal  with.  As  a  rule,  th.e  negro  women  are  gross, 
ungainly,  and  repulsive.     The  boatmen  are  a  truculent  lot, 


2l6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

nearly  as  bad  as  the  ill-mannered  "  cabbies  "  of  London,  The 
population  is  about  ten  per  cent,  white.  Drinking  resorts 
are  numerous,  but  we  saw  no  evidence  of  drunkenness. 
Uncle  John  claims  that  he  saw  a  sign,  "  International  Drunk- 
ery."  Doubtless  the  proprietor  wanted  to  show  that  he  was 
no  bigot,  with  race  prejudices,  but  was  willing  to  sell  his 
fluids  to  anybody  who  would  pay.  They  call  things  by  their 
right  names  here,  as  is  the  English  habit.  What  is  described 
in  the  advertisement  as  a  grog-shop,  would  be  a  saloon  or 
sample-room  with  us,  while  the  cook-shop,  with  our  fondness 
for  high-sounding  words,  would  be  a  restaurant.  The  Eng- 
lish draper  is  with  us  a  dry-goods  merchant ;  the  railway 
station  is  a  depot ;  the  shop,  a  store ;  the  engine  driver  be- 
comes a  locomotive  engineer,  and  the  lift  is  an  elevator.  But 
we  understand  English  better  than  the  English  themselves  ; 
at  least  I  have  seen  it  so  stated  in  the  newspapers. 

Americans  habitually  exhibit  vagaries  in  language,  which 
may  be  attributed  in  some  measure  to  the  slovenliness  of 
hasty  newspaper  writing,  and  the  carelessness  of  superficial 
readers,  who  undervalue  the  salubrity  of  draughts  from  "the 
well  of  English  undefiled,"  and  insensibly  acquire  the  cor- 
ruptions of  inaccurate  expression.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  good  English.  With  us,  women  are  ladies,  while 
men  are  mere  men.  Thus  we  read  in  advertisements  that 
salesmen  are  called  for,  but  the  fair  employees  of  the  store  ! 
resent  the  appellation  of  woman  (which  the  Saviour  of  Man- 
kind used)  and  exact  the  designation  of  lady.  They  are 
salesladies.  Ridiculous!  If  salesmen,  why  not  saleswomen  ? 
Think  of  changing  the  wording  of  Holy  Writ  and  making  the 
angehcal  salutation  read,  Hail,  full  of  grace  !  Blessed  are 
thou  among — ladies  ! 

Then  the  vulgarism  of  "  gfents  ;  "  although  this  is  rare. 
"  Help,"  as  the  comprehensive  synonym  for  servants,  is  not 


PORT   OF   SPAIN.  217 

often  heard  now,  except  among  the  uneducated,  and  the  aged, 
who  retain  the  traditions  of  the  ignorant  period  from  which 
we  are  beginning  to  emerge.  But  everywhere  we  hear  the 
insufferable  abbreviation  of  "  pants  "  for  pantaloons.  Abbre- 
viated pantaloons  are  breeches.  Then  it  is  not  a  solid  Eng- 
lish word,  but  an  Italian  derivative,  and  although  the  use  of 
pantaloons  is  permissible,  the  cutting  short  is  reprehensible. 
Trousers  is  the  correct  word.  I  have  seen  in  Broadway  signs 
reading,  "  Gent's  pants  and  vests,"  descriptive  of  men's  trou- 
sers and  waistcoats.  In  English  mercantile  nomenclature, 
the  articles  known  as  pants  and  vests  arci  of  the  feminine 
gender.  Let  Joan  have  the  pants  then,  but  permit  Darby  to 
wear  his  own  trousers. 

Another  vulgarism,  which  is  a  concession  to  American 
pruriency  of  thought,  styles  a  game-cock  a  fighting  rooster. 
A  cock  is  a  cock  and  a  hen  is  a  hen,  and  both  are  roosters. 
Think  of  changing  a  common  proverbial  expression  and 
speaking  of  "  the  '  rooster  '  of  the  walk."  Or  reading  in  the 
Bible,  when  Peter  denied  his  Lord,  "  the  rooster  crew."  The 
refinement  of  prurient  vulgarity  is  reached  by  fastidious  la- 
dies who  fear  to  employ  the  term  "  legs,"  and  use  limbs 
instead.  I  make  it  a  rule  when  I  hear  one  speaking  of  limbs, 
to  ask,  "  which  limb.  Madam,  the  arm  or  the  leg  ?  " 

Having  descended  into  a  verbal  limbo,  I  will  remain  hid- 
den from  the  indignant  sight  of  salesladies,  gents,  roosters, 
and  help. 

We  had  read  in  the  guide-books  glowing  accounts  of  the 
beauty  of  Port  of  Spain,  its  broad  avenues  and  shady  trees, 
but  I  failed  to  see  its  attractions.  The  Marine  Sc^uare  has 
fine  trees,  among  them  some  stately  Palmistes,  but  the  only 
moist  thing  about  it  is  the  fountain,  all  the  surroundiPigs 
being  dry  and  dusty.  Near  this  Square  is  the  Catholic 
Cathedral,   the   most  imposing   building  in   the   place.     The 


2l8  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

population  of  Trinidad  is  about  seventy  per  cent.  Catholic. 
There  is  nothing  inviting  about  the  buildings  or  streets.  The 
scavengers  are  the  unsightly  turkey-buzzards,  such  as  one 
sees  in  Charleston  and  Savannah,  called  here  the  corbeau,  or 
vulture.  Through  the  considerate  kindness  of  Mr.  Towler, 
United  States  Consul  (an  English  gentleman  who,  by  the 
way,  resided  for  many  years  in  Geneva,  and  is  a  friend  of 
Judge  Folger),  we  were  granted  the  privileges  of  the  Union 
Club  during  our  stay.  It  occupies  temporary  quarters  until 
a  new  house  can  be  built,  the  former  club-house  having  been 
burned  recently,. under  circumstances  that  give  color  to  the 
suspicion  that  one  of  the  members  sleeping  there  was  robbed 
and  murdered,  and  the  building  fired  to  hide  the  crime.  The 
Colonial  Club  also  sent  cards,  but  we  had  no  opportunity  to 
avail  ourselves  of  the  privileges  extended. 

An  attractive  feature  of  Port  of  Spain  is  the  pleasure 
ground,  open  to  the  public,  called  the  Botanical  Garden,  sur- 
rounding the  residence  of  the  Governor  in  the  environs.  The 
terminus  of  the  tramway  is  but  a  short  walk  from  the  entrance 
to  these  grounds,  which  are  handsomely  laid  out,  flowers  oc- 
cupying the  space  in  front,  while  in  the  rear  are  shady  walks 
winding  through  specimens  of  luxuriant  tropical  vegetation. 
The  show  of  flowers  is  not  remarkable  for  variety,  but  there 
is  an  abundance  of  plants  and  trees,  banana,  orange,  pineapple, 
bamboo,  cabbage-palm,  giant  locust,  and — especially  beau- 
tiful from  its  dentate  leaf — the  fern-palm.  These  arborous 
paths  are  not  without  attractiveness,  but  in  the  oppressive 
hot  air  one  contrasts  them  with  the  pine-cone  carpets  of  nor- 
thern woods,  with  the  soft  murmurs  of  cascading  waters 
sweeping  coolly  through  the  fragrant  aisles,  while  the  robin 
carols  in  the  leafy  choir  overhead — and  looks  forward  longing 
for  the  time  when  he  can  exchange  this  languid  breath  of 
the  enervating  tropics  for  the  exhilarating  ozone  of  the  tem- 


PORT   OF   SPAIN.  219 

perate    clime,  dispensed  by  my  numismatic    friend,  Michael 
Moore. 

There  is  but  one  singing  bird  here,  which  put  an  imperti- 
nent question  to  us  as  we  neared  the  gardens.  I  asked  a  ne- 
gro, who  was  watering  his  horse  at  a  fountain  outside,  what 
was  the  name  of  the  bird.  His  answer  sounded  hke  chick- 
adedee,  but  in  a  moment,  by  hstening  closely,  1  found  that 
the  bird  song  was  the  French,  Qu  cst-ce  qitil  dit,  which,  as 
you  know,  is  pronounced,  with  clipped  sound,  "  Kesskedee." 
The  imitation  of  this  interrogatory  is  perfect.  Uncle  John 
was  relating  at  the  time  how  29  Hose  saved  Mayor  Opdyke's 
house  from  the  mob  in  1863,  and  I  called  his  attention  to  the 
question  put  by  the  bird,  which  might  be  construed  into  the 
fashionable  slang,  What  are  you  giving  us  ?  but  he  declined 
to  answer,  saying  that  it  was  none  of  the  foreign  bird's  busi- 
ness. Besides,  he  couldn't  answer  it  in  its  own  tongue,  as  he 
had  left  all  his  French  behind  in  Rue  St.  Hyacijit/ie,  JMarcJu' 
St.  Honorc,  with  a  cocker  who  wasn't  satisfied  with  a  \vc\\(- 
ivdinc pourboire  because  he  was  an  American,  and  was,  there- 
fore, expected  to  be  generously  vulgar  in  ostentatious  gratu- 
ities. I  then  suggested  that  the  Commodore  might  answer, 
as  he  has  a  voice  of  peculiar  softness,  gurgling  and  bird-like. 
He  essayed  one  of  his  favorite  quotations  from  Longfellow, 
and  the  birds  were  silent.  That  settled  them.  The  inquisi- 
tive Qu'cst-cc  qicil  dits  heard  enough. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


TRINIDAD. 


Singing-birds — Taxidermy — Metempsychosis — "  Keb.,  Sir  !  " — Piratical 
Attaclc  —  Button-hole  Oratory  —  French  Courtesy — Pitch  Lake — 
Asphalt — Flying  Oysters — Future  of  Trinidad. 

Port  of  Spain,  March  28,  1884. 
Few  singing  birds  are  found  in  the  tropics.  There  is  a  law 
now  against  bird  shooting,  which  will  protect  some  of  the 
fine  feathers,  but  there  were  never  many  voices  to  slay.  The 
fashion  of  wearing  birds  in  bonnets  has  resulted  in  great 
havoc  among  the  gay-plumed,  particularly  humming-birds. 
Still  I  suppose  sparrows,  chickens,  ducks,  geese,  turkeys,  and 
dye-stuffs  supply  many  of  the  handsome  South  American 
birds  the  ladies  wear.  At  the  photographer's,  where  we 
bought  some  views,  was  a  case  containing  birds,  fishes,  and 
reptiles,  found  here  and  in  neighboring  Venezuela.  The 
tarantula  and  centipede  were  among  them.  The  taran- 
tula is  a  large,  hairy,  loathsome  spider,  venomous  but  not 
necessarily  fatal  ;  while  the  bite  of  the  centipede  is  sure  death 
unless  an  antidote  is  administered  in  good  season.  The 
specimen  in  this  collection  was  about  nine  inches  long  ;  a  dis- 
gusting object,  appropriate  encasement  of  a  venomous  dispo- 
sition. If  nature  had  arranged  that  the  slanderous  tongue  of 
man  should  be  sheathed  in  like  characteristic  indication  of 
disposition,  we  would  know  better  what  malignant  two-legged 
reptiles  to  avoid  ;  what  to  crush  when  they  crossed  our  path. 


TRINIDAD.  221 

In  the  case  were  many  elegant  birds,  prepared  for  sale. 
One,  a  light  blue  and  white,  was  especially  attractive  from  its 
delicate  shape  and  cerulean  color  ;  a  sort  of  embodiment  of 
the  idea  of  virginal  purity.  There  was  a  number  of  sheeny 
throated  humming-birds,  and  looking  at  these  beauteous 
mummies  in  the  sarcophagus  of  the  taxidermist,  I  could  not 
but  regret  the  prevalence  of  a  fashion  that  involved  the  kill- 
ing of  these  flashing  jewels  of  the  air.  The  aboriginals  for- 
bade the  slaughter  of  the  innocents,  for  they  believed  that,  in 
the  transmigration  of  souls,  departed  Indians  returned  in 
them;  materialized  spirits  revisiting  the  place  of  their  early 
sojourn.  I  fully  sympathized  with  this  poetic  superstition 
when  I  saw  the  glossy  atoms  of  feathered  symmetry,  stuck 
on  wires  in  a  dealer's  show-case,  in  juxtaposition  with  stuffed 
snakes  and  lizards,  and  bottled  tarantulas,  scorpions,  and  cen- 
tipedes. It  was  trading  in  sublimated  beauty,  prostituting 
ethereality  to  sordid  earthliness.  I  inveighed  with  eloquent 
fervor  against  the  wdiims  of  fashion,  which  tore  these  pretty 
birds  from  Parian  groves,  where  they  dwelt  unseen  save 
by  the  infrequent  hunter,  to  perch  admired  in  the  head- 
gear of  some  pretty  girl,  promenading  Fifth  Avenue,  with 
face  as  radiant  as  the  shining  plume  in  her  jaunty  hat.  I 
lauded  feelingly  the  Indian  metempsychosis,  and  bewailed 
the  sacrificial  hard-heartedness  of  modish  millinery  ;  then — I 
bought  the  birds.  I  know  some  fair  brows  that  will  adorn 
harmoniously  these  lustrous  pinions  ;  some  masses  of  sunny 
hair  in  which  the  transmigrating  humming-birds  would  choose 
to  nestle,  had  the}'-  the  power  to  select  their  place  of  abode 
in  the  future  state. 

To  use  a  common  expression.  I  don't  take  much  stock  in 
the  tropical  flowers.  They  are  gaudy  and  flaring,  and  lack 
the  indescribable  tenderness  of  our  buds  and  blossoms.  The 
roses  are  large  and   luxuriant,  but  they  seem  blowsy  com- 


222  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

pared  with  the  moist  delicacy  of  our  northern  product.  Nor 
do  we  see  the  pure  white  hlies  and  violets,  which  would 
wither  in  the  consuming  breath  of  this  heated  atmosphere. 
In  my  view,  there  is  more  beauty  in  a  modest  little  pansy- 
bed  at  home,  than  in  all  the  glaring  gorgeousness  of  tropic 
flowers. 

Coming  out  of  the  garden,  we  met  the  sailing-master  on 
the  lookout  for  strange  sights.  He  had  heard  wonderful 
snake  stories  ;  among  other  things  was  told  that  hereabouts 
a  serpent  had  swallowed  a  man.  Uncle  John  told  him  that 
it  was  more  likely  the  man  had  swallowed  a  snake — at  the  in- 
ternational drunkery.  We  saw  no  snakes.  There  may  have 
been  some  about,  but  we  were  not  fishing  for  snakes  that 
day.  A  three-mile  track  race-course  adjoins  the  Botanical 
Gardens.  The  enclosure  held  a  large  number  of  cattle  feed- 
ing. We  were  told  that  it  was  a  common  pasturage  for  the 
public  use. 

When  we  reached  the  dock  to  embark,  there  was  a  large 
crowd  gathered,  not  in  honor  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club, 
but  the  Royal  Mail  steamer  was  about  to  sail  for  Southamp- 
ton, carrying  a  distinguished  passenger  in  the  person  of  the 
Governor,  who  was  off  for  six  months,  thus  avoiding  the  hot 
weather  and  September  hurricanes.  Had  he  known  of  our 
intended  arrival,  he  might  have  postponed  his  departure  un- 
til the  next  steamer,  for  it  is  hardly  possible  that  any  con- 
sideration except  the  most  urgent  business  would  have  pre- 
vented him  from  embracing  an  opportunity  to  test  the  virtues 
of  James'  pills.  The  passengers  for  the  steamer,  anchored 
far  out,  were  conveyed  in  small  boats  by  the  rude  boatmen, 
who  were  clamorous  with  harsh  solicitation.  It  was  not  as 
noisy,  however,  as  the  Grand  Central  station  at  Forty-second 
Street,  on  the  arrival  of  an  express  train,  when  the  welcom- 
ing assemblage  is  shouting  an  invitation  to  Mr.  "  Keb,  sir," 


TRINIDAD.  223 

to  take  a  ride.  The  negro  is  often  turbulent  and  unruly.  At 
the  village  of  San  Fernando,  up  in  the  mountains,  there  was 
a  serious  riot  last  month.  They  revolted  against  the  pro- 
hibition to  carry  torches  in  the  carnival  season  ;  the  military 
and  police  were  called  in,  and  the  cmeute  caused  the  loss  of 
several  lives. 

A  quartermaster  had  in  his  possession,  when  we  returned, 
a  small  shovel-nosed  shark  with  the  peculiar  shaped  snout  of 
the  species.  I  asked  him  how  he  picked  up  the  fish,  when 
Uncle  John  interpolated,  "  \Vh)'  !  with  a  pair  of  tongs,  of 
course;  shure  the  shovel  and  tongs  to  aich  other  belongs." 
Uncle  John  is  a  grate  joker.  It  is  a  coal  day  when  he  gets 
left. 

In  the  evening,  as  we  sat  on  deck  smoking,  we  were 
boarded  by  a  pirate.  A  long,  low,  black  piratical-looking  craft 
appeared  on  the  starboard  bow,  and  a  negro  jumped  aboard 
and  seated  himself  on  the  anchor,  or  rather  anchored  himself 
on  the  seat.  It  seems  that  he  was  a  mutineer  who  had  en- 
gaged in  an  altercation  with  the  captain  of  a  coal-lighter — 
which  the  strange  vessel  proved  to  be— and  sought  sanctuary 
on  the  yacht  deck  to  evade  condign  punishment.  A  wordy 
argument  ensued,  and  as  there  appeared  to  be  no  prospect 
of  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  he  dared  not  return  to  the  deck 
of  the  collier,  but,  as  it  floated  off,  sprang  overboard  from 
the  anchorafie,  and  swam  to  the  rudder  of  the  lighter,  which 
he  clutched,  still  maintaining  the  argument  with  the  skipper. 
They  did  not  come  to  terms,  for  we  could  hear  the  contest 
prolonged  in  the  dark  distance,  the  coal-black  rudder-bar- 
nacle interspersing  expostulations  with  loud  cries  of  "  Po- 
lice !  "  No  policeman  answered  (he  never  does,  according  to 
popular  belief),  but  it  is  probable  there  were  no  lives  lost. 
Too  much  talk  for  that. 

Another  adventure  of  a  more  pacific  nature  was  met  the 


224  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE    MONTAUK. 

same  night.  The  Commodore  had  gone  aloft  (in  a  deck  easy- 
chair)  to  count  the  stars  after  Uncle  John  and  I,  who  keep 
good  hours,  had  endued  our  night-caps.  A  boat,  rowed  by- 
two  wandering  minstrels  singing  "Old  Folks  at  Home," 
approached,  and  the  Commodore,  taking  the  song  for  a  sere- 
nade to  his  guests,  who  are  never  so  much  at  home  as  when 
in  bed,  invited  the  gondoliers  to  come  aboard.  He  extended 
to  them  the  hospitable  entertainment  for  which  the  Montauk 
is  famed,  and  talked  to  them  for  a  few  hours  in  the  saloon, 
while  we  remained  churlishly  in  our  state-rooms.  At  length 
they  escaped,  but  evidently  in  a  weary  state,  for  their  sing- 
ing after  they  left  sounded  faint  and  demoralized.  They 
were  two  agreeable  gentlemen,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  no 
permanent  bad  effect  followed  their  visit.  Uncle  John  insists 
that  they  will  be  affected  with  deafness  ;  but  this  is  sheer 
envy.  Even  the  most  generous  and  magnanimous  nature 
has  a  taint  of  weakness.  Uncle  John's  frailty  is  jealousy  of 
the  Commodore's  superior  powers  of  button-hole  oratory. 

A  French  man-of-war,  an  armor-plated  ram,  anchored  in 
the  harbor,  afforded  an  opportunity  for  a  pleasant  inter- 
change of  courtesies.  It  is  customary  for  vessels  in  port  to 
hoist  colors  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  lower  them  at 
sunset.  Yachts  take  the  time  for  colors  from  an  American 
man-of-war,  when  present,  and  we  applied  the  rule  here  to 
the  Frenchman,  regarding  him  as  an  American  for  the  nonce. 
Thus,  the  evening  after  our  arrival,  we  waited  until  the 
French  colors  were  lowered,  when  ours  came  down  simulta- 
neously. The  next  morning  at  8  o'clock,  the  Quartermaster 
stood  ready,  halliards  in  hand,  to  hoist  colors  with  the 
Frenchman,  but  none  went  up.  After  waiting  some  little 
time,  the  American  colors  were  hoisted  on  the  yacht,  when 
at  the  same  instant  the  French  colors  fluttered  in  the  breeze. 
This  was  repeated  every  day  while  in  port ;  we  took  colors 


TRINIDAD.  225 

from  the  French  vessel,  and  he  from  us,  alternately.  He 
took  off  his  hat  to  us — a  mile  distant — in  the  mornin<^,  and  we 
doffed  ours  to  him  in  the  evening.  It  recalled  the  stor)'  of 
Fontenoy,  when,  as  the  antagonistic  forces  approached,  the 
commander  of  the  English  Guards,  removing  his  chapeau, 
said,  "  Gentlemen  of  the  French  Guard,  fire  !  "  To  whom  his 
chivalrous  enemy  replied,  "  The  French  Guard  never  fires 
first  ;  "  whereupon  the  English  delivered  their  volley.  The 
days  of  chivalry  are  past,  but  French  courtesy  still  exists. 

A  small  steamer  runs  from  Port  of  Spain  to  La  Brea, 
forty  miles  distant,  situation  of  the  famous  pitch-lake,  which 
contains  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  asphalt.  This  wonderful 
bituminous  sheet  has  an  area  of  nearly  one  hundred  acres, 
between  elevations  close  to  the  hill-top.  It  is  a  broad  sur- 
face of  pitch,  seamed  with  small  channels  of  water.  The 
pitch  is  dug  from  the  hardened  top,  and  the  quantity  taken 
away  is  constantly  replenished  by  the  soft  asphalt  oozing  up 
from  below,  which  becomes  hardened  by  the  evaporation  of 
its  constituent  oil  in  the  sun.  Night  supplies  the  exhaustion 
of  day.  The  method  of  skimming  the  great  bowl  may  be  il- 
lustrated by  comparing  it  to  a  pond,  from  which  blocks  of  ice 
have  been  cut,  and  the  water  solidified  again  by  the  action  of 
frost ;  the  difference  being  that  heat  is  the  agent  in  one  case 
and  cold  in  the  other.  Some  power  below  constantly  forces 
the  asphalt  to  the  surface — perhaps  nature  uses  a  tuning-fork 
to  keep  up  the  pitch. 

It  was  supposed  formerly  that  the  deposit  was  subject  to 
volcanic  action,  but  recent  investigation  disproves  this  theor)-. 
The  accumulation  is  simply  vegetable  matter,  which,  in  the 
process  of  degeneration,  becomes  melted  by  the  hot  tropical 
soil  into  mineral  pitch  and  asphalt,  instead  of  being  trans- 
formed, by  hardening  influences,  into  peat  and  coal,  as  it 
would  be  in  Ireland  or  Pennsylvania.  Asphalt  is  sometimes 
15 


226  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

called  Jew's-pitch.  I  don't  know  why.  Perhaps  the  blind 
bigotry  which  consigns  the  Hebrew  to  the  bottomless  pit  has 
something  to  do  with  this  designation. 

Trinidad  asphalt  has  become  an  important  article  of  com- 
merce. It  is  largely  used  in  the  unequaled  pavements  of 
Paris.  The  patch  on  Fifth  Avenue,  near  the  Worth  monu- 
ment, the  best  bit  of  pavement  ever  laid  in  New  York  City, 
is  of  this  material. 

In  1595  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  search  of  El  Dorado, 
touched  at  La  Brea,  en  route  to  the  mythical  territory,  and 
calked  his  ships  v/ith  the  pitch  found  here,  declaring  it  to  be 
superior  to  that  of  Norway.  He  had  some  fighting  with  the 
Spaniards  in  possession,  in  which  he  held  the  advantage,  but 
didn't  remain  long  on  the  island,  for  he  would  not  be  di- 
verted from  his  pursuit  of  gold.  There  is  a  savor  of  romance 
about  this  malodorous  pitch  when  we  connect  it  with  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  the  handsome  soldier,  poet,  historian,  in- 
trepid adventurer,  the  accomplished  courtier  and  favorite  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Better  for  Raleigh  that  he  had  thrown  his 
cloak  over  a  fissure  in  the  steaming  lake  of  La  Brea,  than  in 
the  puddle  to  save  the  silken  shoon  of  the  virgin  Queen  from 
being  soiled.  Good  Queen  Bess,  albeit  she  did  some  heavy 
work  in  the  cause  of  religion,  roasting  papists  and  noncon- 
formists at  Smithfield,  was  a  pretty  hard  character ;  in  her 
jeweled  stomacher,  embroidered  farthingale,  and  voluminous 
ruff.  She  is  always  represented  with  a  great  ruff  in  the  con- 
temporaneous portraits.  Certainly  she  was  the  female  rough 
of  the  period  ;  and  was  hard  on  poor  Raleigh,  who  died  un- 
daunted in  the  bloody  Tower  of  London,  writing  on  the  wall 
of  his  cell,  the  night  before  execution,  this  couplet  to  the 
snuff  of  his  candle  : 

Cowards  fear  to  die  ;  but  courage  stout. 
Rather  than  live  in  snuff,  will  be  put  out. 


TRINIDAD.  227 

Trinidad  was  Spanish  until  1796,  when  Spain  declared 
war  against  England,  and  great  naval  battles  were  fought  in 
West  Indian  waters,  between  English,  h^-ench,  Spanish,  and 
Dutch  fleets.  The  following  year.  Admirals  Hussey  and 
Abercrombie  sailed  through  the  Boca  del  Dragon  and  ap- 
peared near  Port  of  Spain,  wdth  twenty  men-of-war  and  a 
large  array  of  soldiers.  The  Spanish  Admiral,  Apodoca, 
cooped  up  with  but  four  frigates,  finding  resistance  useless, 
burned  his  ships  and  fled  to  the  Spanish  Main.  Chacon,  the 
brave  and  noble  Governor  of  Trinidad,  capitulated;  and  so 
Trinidad  passed  under  English  rule,  where  it  has  remained 
ever  since  ;  and  is  likely  to  unless  O'Donovan  Rossa  should 
put  dynamite  in  the  coffee  of  the  Governor  some  fine  morn- 
ing. 

The  oysters  growing  on  trees,  which  Columbus  found, 
transmitted  that  pernicious  habit  to  the  descendant  and  pen- 
dent bivalves  of  the  present  day.  The  roots  of  the  mangrove 
extend  into  the  water,  and  to  these  the  oysters  cling,  to  be 
plucked  like  fruit.  They  are  not  good,  but  small  and  cop- 
pery, like  the  oysters  I  tasted  in  Naples.  O'Neil  would  laugh 
at  them.  But  where  do  we  find  good  oysters  outside  of  the 
United  States  ?  Not  even  the  vaunted  "  native  "  of  Carling- 
ford,  the  famed  "  poldoodies  of  Burran,"  can  approach  in 
savory  succulence  the  New  York  oyster.  Uncle  John  said 
that  this  must  be  a  queer  country,  where  the  oysters  keep 
lean,  flying  around,  roosting  on  trees,  instead  of  lying  quietly 
in  their  beds,  to  get  fat,  like  Captain  Joe  Elsworth's  in  Prince's 
Bay. 

We  had  no  mosquitoes  aboard.  We  were  anchored  too 
far  from  shore  for  them  to  reach  us  with  their  little  bills. 
Then  they  may  have  thought  it  a  waste  of  time  to  attack 
those  who  had  passed  the  ordeal  of  the  New  Brunswick 
"  skeeter,"  nourished  in  the  classic  shades  of  Rutgers,  with 


228  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

commendable  animosity  toward  full-blooded  followers  of  the 
Pope.  The  Trinidad  knight-errant  would  lose  his  laurels  in 
abortive  emulation.  Besides  he  doesn't  sing.  Dr.  DeWolf 
told  us,  however,  that  although  a  small  insect,  he  has  a  fine, 
silent  touch  in  surgery,  which  can  be  felt  if  not  heard.  Still, 
without  an  appalling  bugle,  the  mosquito  is  robbed  of  half  his 
terrors.  His  sound  is  like  artillery  ;  it  frightens  more  than  it 
hurts. 

Port  of  Spain  is  destined  to  become  a  place  of  great  com- 
mercial consequence  ;  the  most  important,  perhaps,  of  all  the 
West  Indian  ports,  except  Havana.  Trinidad  is  rich  in  pro- 
ducts. The  principal  exports  are  sugar,  cocoa,  and  pitch. 
They  are  now  cultivating  coffee  extensively,  and  have  for  the 
first  time  more  than  enough  for  home  consumption.  A  com- 
plete revolution  has  been  established  in  the  manufacture  of 
sugar.  Formerly  the  raw  material  was  shipped  to  New  York 
and  elsewhere  to  be  refined  ;  now,  by  the  modern  appliances, 
it  is  prepared  completely  for  the  market  at  the  usines.  I 
can  remember  when  quantities  of  sugar-canes  were  brought 
to  New  York,  and  chewing  cane  was  a  favorite  refreshment 
of  the  street  boys.  Sugar  was  ground  in  the  mills,  then  com- 
mon. But  all  this  has  changed,  and  the  prosperous  days  of 
sugar-refineries  of  the  ordinary  grades,  remote  from  the  plan- 
tations, are  numbered.  We  regretted  that  time  did  not  per- 
mit us  to  accept  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Agastini,  one  of  the 
most  influential  men  in  Trinidad,  to  spend  a  few  days  on  his 
extensive  estate,  where  we  might  have  witnessed  the  produc- 
tion of  sugar  on  the  largest  scale. 

The  proximity  of  Trinidad  to  Venezuela,  to  which  a  line 
of  steamers  runs,  gives  it  a  great  advantage  in  the  South 
American  trade,  and  its  fertility  and  large  territory,  with  in- 
creasing products,  will  in  time  place  it  in  a  commanding  po- 
sition in  the  tropics. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THROUGH    THE    CAKH^BEAN   SEA. 

Salutamus — A  Corkonian  Gaul — The  Dragon's  Mouth — Columbus — An 
Apology  —  The  Trade-winds  —  Navigation  —  Dead-reckoning  —  A 
Timely  Warning — Old  Fogies — A  Tender  Hour — The  Same  Old 
Moon — Serenade — Uncle  John  Romantic — Gammon. 

Ox  Board  Moxt.vuk,  at  Sea, 
Lat.  12°  44'  X.,  Long.  67°  18'  W.,  March  31,  1884. 

We  left  Port  of  Spain  on  the  morning  of  March  29th,  with 
a  Hght  breeze  that  sent  us  along  gently,  in  an  easy,  graceful, 
deliberate,  and  dignified  manner  becoming  a  }'acht  of  elegant 
leisure  ;  not  rushing  out  of  port  with  the  hurried  fussiness  of 
the  busy  trader  compelled  to  work  for  a  living.  Our  course  was 
varied  slightly  to  enable  us  to  pass  around  the  French  man- 
of-war  at  anchor  in  the  roadstead,  with  whom  we  exchanged 
salutes.  Recollections  of  Rochambeau  fluttered  in  the  folds 
of  our  dipping  ensign  ;  the  national  flag  that  France  helped 
us  to  raise  over  surrendered  Yorktown. 

We  doft'cd  our  caps  to  the  officers  gathered  on  her  quarter- 
deck, and  the  responsive  recognition  was  watched  with  great 
interest  by  Uncle  John,  who  was  anxious  to  learn  the  latest 
French  style  of  hat-removal.  He  insists  that  the  elbow  con- 
tortion of  the  stiff-necked  Fifth  Avenue  automaton,  which  re- 
sembles the  motion  of  a  wooden  toy  figure  jerked  by  a  string, 
is  not  only  inelegant,  but  that  there  is  no  authority  for  it  in  the 
canons  of  good  taste  or  conventional  etiquette.    The  salute  of 


230  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

poor  Montague  in  "The  Shaughraun"  was  the  initiation  of  this 
muscular  spasm,  but  Captain  Molyneux  was,  for  an  English- 
man, graceful  though  unmilitary.  Uncle  John,  who  is  a  war- 
rior bold,  having  marched  with  uncut  corns  in  the  Seventh 
regiment  bunion's  pilgrim's  progress  during  the  Helderberg 
war,  and  smelt  powder  without  taking  a  reef  in  his  nose  at 
the  Astor  Place  riot — says  that,  properly,  the  hat  should  be 
raised  from  the  head  in  salutation.  The  dudish  motion  is  to 
pull  the  tile  down  in  front  of  the  countenance,  like  a  cloud 
passing  over  the  face  of  the  sun,  as  if  the  wearer  feared  that 
the  rays  of  his  beauty  would  scorch  the  susceptible  fair  one 
who  encountered  his  burning  and  enslaving  gaze.  "  When 
I  take  off  my  hat  to  a  lady,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  I  want  to 
see  her  ;  to  have  my  eye  on  her."  "  You  want  to  beam  on 
her,  as  it  were"  I  remarked  graciously.  "  No,"  replied  the 
veteran  gallant,  "where  ladies  are  in  question,  there  is  no 
beam  in  my  eye."     Thus  smote  he  the  flippant  interlocutor. 

Clustered  along  the  rail  forward,  were  the  French  sailors, 
in  their  natty  white  jackets,  gazing  admiringly  upon  the  yacht 
as  she  passed  the  iron-clad  monitor,  like  a  swan  gliding  by  a 
scaly  crocodile,  and  expressing  their  opinions  with  exuberant 
ejaculations  and  vivacious  gestures.  In  order  to  do  some- 
thing in  a  complimentary  way,  as  well  as  to  show  my  knowl- 
edge of  language,  acquired  at  Turner's  French  Academy  in 
Utica,  while  at  the  same  time  indulging  some  vainglorious 
superiority  over  my  messmates,  putting  on  French  airs,  I  re- 
moved my  cliapeaii  de  paille,  and  as  the  sunbeams  glinted  on 
the  polished  expanse  of  my  enameled  cranium,  shouted,  in 
the  deep  contralto  tones  of  a  Greenwich  Street  clam-peddler  : 
CojHpatriotes  f  Vive  la  belle  France  !  The  response  came, 
quick  and  distinct,  in  the  lisping  accents  of  the  Provencal 
troubadour:  "  Iv  ye  see  Tim  Mulrooney,  who  keeps  a  she- 
been wid  a  roosterinit  near  Hahrlem  Bridge,  tell  'im  'is  brud- 


THROUGH   THE   CARIBi5EAX   SEA.  23 1 

der  Mick  is  sarvin'  his  counthry  aboord  aFrinch  ram  ov  won 
Hurroo  for  Ameriky  !  " 

I  had  intended  to  sing  a  verse  of  the  Marsciilaisc,  re- 
questing the  Gallic  mariners  to  Anx  arvics  citoyciis  and  For-r- 
rmez  vos  battaillons,  but  upon  consideration  I  concluded  to 
postpone  the  chant  until  we  sailed  into  the  Cove  of  Cork.  M}' 
messmates  were  to  join  in  the  refrain,  but  we  all  refrained. 

Out  again  through  the  fierce  currents  of  the  Boca  del 
Dragon,  skirting  the  promontory  of  Paria  !  The  limestone 
rocks  that  line  the  beach  have  intervals  of  whiteness  washed 
into  them  by  the  surf,  which  remind  one  of  the  spring  snow- 
drifts along  the  Hudson  ;  pure  wreaths,  safely  encreviced  in 
hillside  ravines,  until  the  melting  breath  of  nearing  summer 
finds  them  out,  and  they  trickle  reluctantly  into  stained  afflu- 
ents of  the  grimy  flood  that  sweeps  below. 

The  current  aids  us  and  we  pass  through  the  formidable 
dragon's  mouth  without  difficulty  ;  as  easily  perhaps  as 
Jonah  was  evicted  from  his  temporary  tenement  in  the  whale 
by  a  writ  of  ejectment  issued  by  a  district  court  civil  jus- 
tice. We  have  reached  the  southern  limit  of  our  cruise  ;  we 
are  turned  to  the  north  ;  we  are  liomeward  bound.  Not  that 
we  are  going  home  directh',  for  a  long  detour  to  the  west- 
ward must  be  made  to  reach  Havana,  but,  with  the  turning 
of  our  prow,  the  home  feeling  will  grow  strong  with  my  com- 
panions, and  impatient  longing  will  soon  fret  and  fume,  as 
unfavorable  winds  or  thwarting  calms  delay  our  progress. 
As  for  me,  I  have  no  stimulus  to  this  yearning  impatience. 

As  one  views  these  shores,  enveloped  in  the  romance  of 
history,  he  cannot  but  recall  the  wonderful  adventures  of  the 
great  Columbus,  whose  valor,  fortitude,  knowledge,  piety, 
and  devotion  made  the  possessor  of  these  admirable  attributes 
an  exemplar  of  virtuous  endov.-ments  rarely  combined  in  one 
person.    That  he  should  start  on  his  first  voyage  of  discovery 


232  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

over  the  trackless  ocean  with  but  three  small  vessels,  two  of 
them  caravels  without  decks,  and  overcome  obstacles  before 
which  the  ordinary  man  would  have  shrunk  appalled,  excites 
our  greatest  wonder.  His  own  flag-ship  was  the  only  decked 
vessel.  During  the  third  voyage,  when,  coasting  the  Gulf  of 
Paria,  he  discovered  the  waters  in  which  we  are  now  sailing, 
he  complained  of  the  unnecessary  size  of  his  vessel,  nearly 
one  hundred  tons  burden.  Our  yacht,  which  appears  so 
small,  is  two  hundred  tons.  But  his  vessels  were  built  up 
with  houses  fore  and  aft.  Still,  he  had  not  only  to  take  a 
large  quantity  of  stores  for  the  considerable  force  of  soldiers, 
with  artillery  and  munitions  of  war,  but  he  had  horses  and 
provender  aboard  as  well.  That  such  vessels  could  cross  the 
Atlantic,  and  survive  the  autumnal  hurricanes  and  tornadoes 
of  this  boisterous  region,  is  marvelous.  It  seems  almost  in- 
credible that  Columbus  should  possess  the  ability  to  surmount 
the  formidable  interposing  barriers  to  success.  But  his  in- 
domitable courage  was  fortified  by  religious  convictions  of 
the  most  exalted  character.  He  was  a  devout  enthusiast,  who 
believed  that  he  acted  under  divine  inspiration,  that  his  mis- 
sion was  to  Christianize  the  heathen,  and  extend  the  empire 
of  the  Church  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  the  Redeemer.  His 
great  purpose  in  life  was  the  redemption  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre. In  his  will,  he  enjoined  on  his  son  Diego,  to  devote  a 
portion  of  his  wealth  to  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem.  His  relig- 
ious fanaticism  animated  to  victory  a  career  which  was  pro- 
ductive of  incalculable  benefit  to  mankind. 

Columbus  was  a  great  benefactor.  But  for  his  discoveries 
many  of  our  eminent  statesmen  might  still  be  trotting,  bare- 
toed,  through  the  savage  wilds  of  Connemara,  leaving  shape- 
less footprints  on  the  bogs  of  time.  Notwithstanding  his 
pious  fervor,  which  was  Catholic  and  idolatrous,  Columbus 
might  not  be  regarded  by  Oberlin  University  as  a  truly  good 


THROUGH   THE    CARHJHEAX   SEA.  233 

man,  but  he  was  a  truly  great  man.  I  recjard  him  as,  in  some 
respects,  a  greater  man  than  William  C.  Kingsley  or  Ripley 
Ropes. 

Emerging  from  the  Boca  del  Dragon,  we  point  westward 
and,  skirting  the  coast  of  Venezuela,  make  our  course,  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  toward  Cura^oa,  our  sails  filled  with  gentle 
breezes,  wafted  by  the  cooling  wings  of  attendant  zephyrs, 
through  summer  seas,  enjoying,  in  its  perfection,  the  poetry 
of  motion. 

It  is  the  highest  duty  to  acknowledge  an  error  ;  to  re- 
tract an  unfounded  statement,  to  render  an  apology  when 
justice  demands  a  correction.  I  apologize  to  the  trade-winds. 
One  of  my  splenetic  outbursts  in  a  previous  letter  contained 
an  unjust  reflection  upon  the  habits  of  these  benignant  gales  ; 
which  I  desire  to  retract,  for,  so  far  from  being  dissolute,  they 
are  most  exemplary.  I  think  I  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the 
trade-winds  were  a  humbug,  like  blustering  and  pretentious 
reformers.  I  thought  they  had  got  up  a  reform  movement  to 
change  the  even  tenor  of  their  way  and  make  society  miser- 
able with  meddling  disturbance.  I  take  it  back.  They  are 
admirable  ;  nothing  could  be  gentler  or  more  propitious. 
When  I  wrote  before,  they  were  suffering  from  indisposition  ; 
they  were  in  evil  communication,  which  corrupts  good  man- 
ners, with  some  mountainous  island  associations,  which,  per- 
haps kept  them  out  late  at  night,  and  ruffled  their  usual 
serenity.  They  were  temporarily  under  a  cloud,  unable  to 
make  both  ends  meet,  and  that  is  calculated  to  create  spleen, 
cause  depression,  and  stir  up  bile.  The  sea  was  not  well  be- 
tween St.  Kitt's  and  Martinique.  It  showed  bad  blood.  E\i- 
deiitly  it  was  suffering  from  boils.  It  appeared  to  be  in  hot 
water  and  I  rashl)'  attributed  the  discomposure  to  a  reform 
in  the  trade-winds.  I  was  wrong.  The  mischief  was  done 
by  heated  land-breezes,  that  came  down  through  island  val- 


234  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

leys,  with  a  predaceous  rush,  Hke  college  students  on  a  base- 
ball lager-beer  stand,  or  militia  cavalry  charging  a  baker's 
wagon. 

The  trade-winds  blow  with  unvarying  constancy  from 
one  quarter,  the  year  round,  if  they  have  a  chance.  They 
have  it  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  where  there  is  plenty  of  blow- 
room,  and  no  perverse  wind-breeders.  Barring  some  spite- 
ful tornadoes  which  invade  it  in  the  hurricane  season,  every- 
thing is  lovely  and  the  goose  may  have  a  high  old  time  with 
ease  and  safety.  I  offer  to  the  trade-winds  an  humble  apology. 
I  take  occasion  to  convey  to  them  the  assurance  of  my  dis- 
tinguished consideration.      I  salute  the  trade-winds. 

The  sky  in  the  latitudes  where  these  winds  prevail  is  of 
modest  neutral  tint,  with  small  detached  clouds,  mainly  of 
indefinite,  spherical  shape,  congregating  more  numerously 
near  the  horizon,  but,  seen  elsewhere  through  the  lucid  space, 
floating  in  melting  beauty,  like  seminary  girls  waltzing  on  a 
hot  summer  night.  They  reminded  Uncle  John  of  dainty 
crullers  circling  in  a  pan  of  melted  lard.  Could  there  be  a 
more  tasteful  comparison  ?  But  it  was  an  inspiration  of  the 
summer  season.  Uncle  John  is  part  Scotch,  and  the  sim- 
merle  of  the  cruller  "  simmer  "  came  to  him  naturally. 

To  day  the  observation  shows  that  we  are  in  latitude  I2° 
44'  north,  longitude  6']°  i8'  west  ;  that  is,  in  round  numbers, 
750  miles  north  of  the  equator  and  4.050  miles  west  of  Green- 
wich, England.  By  looking  at  a  map  you  will  see  where  we 
are  as  I  write.  I  mention  this  because  it  is  probable  that  this 
letter,  when  you  receive  it,  will  not  bear  the  post-mark  of  the 
place  where  it  was  written.  The  post-office  service  of  the 
Caribbean  Sea  is  not  regular.  Everyone  is  his  own  mail-car- 
rier. At  night  it  is  a  Star  Route  ;  realms  of  Bliss,  Uncle  John 
remarked. 

It  occurs  to  me  that  your  sea  experience  thus  far  has  been 


THROUGH  THE   CARIBBEAN   SEA.  235 

confined  to  threading  the  daedalian  channels  of  the  Thousand 
Islands  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  land-bearings  are  frequent 
and  lee-shore  rocks  accessible.  Perhaps  )'ou  may  be  inter- 
ested in  learning  how  the  mariner  steers  his  course  on  the 
ocean,  and  ascertains  his  position  by  the  sun.  I  make  no 
apology  for  my  endeavor  to  explain  it  at  some  length  here. 
I  assume  that  you  did  not  study  navigation  at  school,  and  if 
you  had,  you  would  probably  know  little  about  it.  Very  lit- 
tle is  learned  at  school.  I  trust  that  the  explanation  may  not 
prove  unintelligible,  although  I  appreciate  the  difficulty  of 
conveying  the  idea  by  mere  word  description  : 

The  nautical  instruments  employed  are  the  compass,  quad- 
rant, sextant,  and  chronometer,  with  the  thermometer,  barom- 
eter, lead,  and  log  as  auxiliaries.  The  boiler,  frying-pan,  and 
gridiron  belong  in  the  cook's  department,  and  are  useful  im- 
plements, but  not  indispensable  to  navigation  ;  although  the 
cook  is  a  seafaring  man,  to  whom  inquisitive  passengers  are 
often  referred  for  information,  regarding  winds,  tides,  and 
fogs,  by  surly  skippers  crossing  the  Atlantic. 

The  quadrant  and  sextant  are  similar,  one  being  marked 
in  quarters  and  one  in  sixths  of  a  degree.  The  movement 
of  the  compass  everybody  understands.  It  is  placed  in  the 
binnacle  directly  in  front  of  the  wheel,  under  the  eye  of  the 
helmsman,  who  by  it  steers  the  ship's  course.  The  chro- 
nometer is  a  finely-adjusted  big  watch,  set  by  the  time  of 
Greenwich  Observatory,  England.  With  this,  and  the  obser- 
vations hereinafter  described,  the  longitude  is  ascertained. 
By  looking  at  a  map  you  will  see  the  division  of  the  globe 
by  imaginary  lines,  drawn  from  pole  to  pole,  and  converging 
at  these  points,  which  are  the  longitudinal  or  meridian,  and 
transverse  lines,  equi-distant,  which  arc  the  latitudinal  or 
parallel. 

To  ascertain  the  longitude,  the  common  or  ship's  time  is 


236  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

compared  with  the  chronometer's  Greenwich  time,  and  the  dif- 
ference between  them  shows  the  meridian,  forming  the  basis 
of  the  calculation  by  which  the  ship's  position  is  determined. 
You  will  see  that  on  the  map  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  is 
marked  O.  The  degrees  of  longitude  east  and  west  of  this 
are  numbered,  and  contain  at  the  maximum  sixty  nautical 
miles  each  (sixty-nine  statute  miles),  diminishing  in  width  as 
they  converge  toward  the  poles.  Thus  longitude  i  E.  is 
sixty  miles  east  of  Greenwich,  longitude  i  W.  is  sixty  miles 
west,  longitude  2  W.  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  west, 
and  so  on.  There  are  four  seconds  in  time  to  a  mile,  hence 
fifteen  miles  to  a  minute,  900  miles  to  an  hour.  To  ascertain 
the  longitude,  you  compare  the  ship's  clock,  common  time, 
with  the  chronometer,  and  the  difference  in  time  shows  the 
position  in  miles.  For  example,  if  you  are  west  of  Green- 
wich and  it  is  noon  by  the  ship's  clock,  and  the  chronometer 
marks  five  o'clock  P.M.,  you  know  that  you  are  five  hours 
from  the  observatory,  and  as  there  are  15  degrees  to  an  hour, 
you  are  in  longitude  75°  W. ;  and  60  miles  to  a  degree  gives 
the  position  4,500  miles  west  of  Greenwich.  This,  however, 
must  be  worked  out  with  the  observations,  according  to 
tables  prepared  for  that  purpose,  with  the  aid  of  logarithms, 
and  adding  or  subtracting  the  sun's  declination,  varying  with 
the  ship's  position  toward  the  equator. 

These  observations  of  the  sun  are  taken  at  noon,  if  practi- 
cable, and  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  four  in  the 
afternoon,  for  purposes  of  comparison.  The  latitude  is  ascer- 
tained in  this  manner  :  As  noon  time  approaches,  the  navi- 
gator places  the  quadrant  to  his  eye  and  looks  toward  the  hori- 
zon, through  a  small  aperture.  An  arrangement  of  colored 
glasses  reflects  the  figure  of  the  sun,  which  appears  just  above 
the  horizon,  ascending,  the  navigator  bringing  the  reflection 
down  to  the  proper  point  of  vision  by  the  movement  of  a 


THROUGH   THE   CARIBBEAN   SEA.  237 

screw.  When  the  sun  reaches  the  meridian,  or  cuhninating 
point  of  ascension,  it  stops,  wavers,  and  then  begins  to  decline. 
At  this  instant,  the  observation  is  taken,  and,  by  fii^urcs 
marked  on  the  quadrant,  the  navigator  is  enabled  to  determine 
the  latitude,  making  the  proper  allowance  for  the  point  of 
view  and  the  refraction  of  the  sun's  rays.  Thus,  having, 
with  the  chronometer  and  quadrant  observations,  ascertained 
the  latitude  and  longitude,  the  ship's  position  is  known  b\- 
looking  on  the  chart.  These  problems  are  worked  out  by 
tables  prepared  for  the  purpose,  which  give  the  apparent  de- 
clination of  the  sun  each  day,  varying  with  the  position  north 
or  south  of  the  equator.  An  observation  taken  from  a  ship 
absolutely  on  the  equatorial  line  at  the  precise  instant  the 
sun  crossed,  would  show  an  altitude  of  ninety  degrees.  This 
rarely  happens,  however. 

All  these  computations  require  careful  and  accurate  fig- 
uring. I  don't  think  I  could  work  them  out  with  certainty. 
Possibly  the  reason  is  that  I  don't  know  how.  Yet  I  know 
some  persons  equally  ignorant  who  would  tackle  them  with 
entire  confidence,  even  if  they  wrecked  the  ship.  They  arc 
the  public  benefactors  and  busybodies  who  work  out  social 
problems,  and  solve  all  evils  in  agitation.  I  don't  think  I 
could  work  a  ship.  It  is  easier  to  work  a  free  lunch  route, 
which  I  am  doing  now  in  this  cruise  of  the  Montauk. 

Of  course  when  land  is  in  sight  no  sun  observations  arc 
necessary.  They  are  only  required  on  the  open  sea  where  no 
land  is  in  view  to  give  bearings.  When  the  sun  is  obscured, 
and  no  observation  can  be  taken,  the  navigator  must  work 
what  is  called  a  dead-reckoning.  This  is  accomplished  b}' the 
log,  an  instrument  put  out  astern,  which  indicates  the  num- 
ber of  miles  sailed,  the  compass  showing  the  course.  But 
this  is  not  entirely  reliable,  for  tides  and  currents  increase  or 
diminish  speed,  and  in  them  the  log  would  not  register  accu- 


238  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

rately  the  distance  progressed.  A  nice  question  arises  as  to  the 
effect  of  currents  upon  the  log.  If  the  tide  is  running  with 
the  ship,  the  log  would  not  be  affected,  but  it  would  be  with 
the  current  against  it.  If  the  current  is  running  against  the 
ship's  course,  and  the  speed  is  retarded  to  the  extent  of  its 
velocity,  the  question  arises,  whether  the  log  would  indicate 
the  actual  number  of  miles  progressed  by  the  vessel,  measur- 
ing from  land  points,  or  whether  it  would  not  in  addition  reg- 
ister the  velocitous  movement  of  the  current  which  retarded 
progress.  For  example,  if  a  ship  were  sailing  with  a  ten-knot 
breeze  against  a  five-knot  current,  what  would  the  log  regis- 
ter ?  If  anchored  with  the  log  out,  and  a  five-knot  current 
were  running,  the  register  would  show  five  knots,  although  no 
progress  was  made.  The  problem  then  is,  what  would  the 
current  effect  be  on  the  log  if  the  ship  were  under  sail  against 
it.  Would  the  current  be  registered  on  the  log  in  addition 
to  the  actual  distance  progressed  by  the  aid  of  the  wind  ? 
Then,  if  the  log  does  register  an  excess  of  distance  traversed, 
does  the  notation  of  current  momentum  increase  or  diminish 
relatively  to  the  degree  of  velocity  ? 

All  of  which  nebulous  conundrums  are  respectively  sub- 
mitted to  the  gay  gondoliers  of  the  Erie  Canal.  Answers 
may  be  sent  to  the  flag-ofhcer  of  the  State's  scow. 

The  dead-reckoning  is,  therefore,  to  a  great  extent,  guess 
work,  but  the  experienced  sailor  can  ascertain  his  position  by 
It  with  a  considerable  degree  of  accuracy.  During  our  first 
week  out,  no  complete  observation  could  be  taken  for  some 
days,  and  the  yacht  was  worked  by  dead-reckoning,  but  we 
made  the  course  to  Bermuda  with  almost  as  much  certainty 
as  if  the  sun  had  been  visible.  The  only  error  ascertained 
was  in  the  too  great  allowance  for  drifting  while  the  yacht 
was  laying  to  during  the  hurricanes  in  the  Gulf  Stream. 
When  an  observation  could  be  had,  it  was  found  that  she  had 


THROUGH   THE   CAKH5BEAN   SEA.  239 

drifted  but  little,  having  held  on  to  the  sea  with  the  tenacity 
of  a  bull-dog.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  force  the  Montauk  to 
the  rear.  The  working  of  the  yacht  during  the  period  of  ob- 
servation proved  the  able  seamanship  of  the  sailing  master, 
Captain  Peter  N.  Breitfeld, 

The  system  of  dead-reckoning  at  sea  is  different  from  the 
Arizona  method,  where  a  debtor  converts  his  running  account 
into  a  dead-reckoning  by  shooting  his  creditor.  Political  par- 
ties arc  sometimes  worked  by  dead-reckoning. 

One  must  go  to  sea  to  realize  the  importance  of  minute 
accuracy  in  keeping  time.  With  a  chronometer  two  minutes 
out  of  the  way,  one  would  make  a  mistake  of  thirty  miles  in 
position,  which  might  be  awkward  if  one  were  out  at  night 
without  the  latch-key.  There  are  but  few  of  the  strongest 
first-class  lights  that  can  be  seen  thirty  miles.  The  Highland 
lights  at  Navesink  are  said  to  be  visible  that  distance,  but  a 
very  good  hand  is  required  to  see  them.  If  making  for  a 
small  island,  it  might  be  missed  if  the  chronometer  were 
wrong,  unless  the  exact  deviation  were  known. 

One  is  apt  to  be  careless  on  this  point  ashore.  A  man 
says  thoughtlessly,  "  My  watch  is  two  minutes  slow,"  with- 
out reflecting  that  it  puts  him  thirty  miles  away  from  where 
he  thinks  he  is.  We  fail  to  appreciate  the  gravity  of  this 
matter.  If,  for  example,  I  should  start  to  drive  to  Whites- 
boro,  and  my  chronometer  were  four  minutes  fast,  I  might 
find  myself  in  Syracuse  before  I  crossed  the  two-mile  bridge. 
Then,  too,  in  the  matter  of  promissory  notes.  Through 
chronometrical  derangement,  they  often  fall  due  before  the 
makers  are  ready  to  come  to  time.  Some  arc  never  ready. 
They  carry  stop-watches.  The  moral  of  all  of  which  is,  we 
cannot  be  too  particular  about  taking  our  timepieces  fre- 
quently to  the  venerable  horologer  of  the  Woodmarket  to 
have  them  recfulated. 


240  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  the  full  moon  to  "  roll  on" 
and  "guide  the  traveler  his  way  "  on  our  run  to  Curacoa. 
Nothing  could  be  more  delightful  than  these  glorious  nights. 
No,  instead  of  engrossing  all  this  superabundant  space  our- 
selves, we  might  have  company  which  would  add  to  the  de- 
light ;  some  gracious  presence  more  in  harmony  with  the 
delicious  scene  than  the  incongruous  occupancy  of  three  old 
fogies,  who  have  no  romance  left  in  them  ;  dull  materialists, 
utterly  devoid  of  sentimentality  ;  thinking  of  their  eating, 
drinking,  smoking,  and  selfish  creature  comfort,  instead  of 
filling  themselves  with  moonshine,  and  soaring  away  on  the 
wings  of  fancy  to  realms  where  the  soul  is  steeped  in  lethal 
obliviousness  of  the  present,  and  memory  fills  the  musing 
night  with  dreamy  enchantments  of  the  past.  Silence  sits  on 
deck  these  moonlight  nights.  There  are  long  breaks  in  the 
desultory  conversation,  ordinarily  so  brisk  and  animated; 
there  is  no  chaffing,  no  joking ;  the  voice  is  pitched  in  a 
lower  key  :  there  are  no  sarcasms,  no  funny  stories,  no  rol- 
licking songs.  Occasionally  a  murmuring  strain  steals  out  as 
if  unconsciously,  some  crooning  tenderness,  some  fragment 
of  a  ballad,  breathed  under- voiced  :  "The  Dearest  Spot  on 
Earth  to  Me,"  "Home  Again,"  "Flee  as  a  Bird" — some 
old-time  melody  that  makes  the  moon  appear  hazy  in  the 
eye  though  shining  lustrous  from  a  clear  sky.  Perhaps  it  is 
"  Blue-eyed  Mary,"  or  "  Farewell,  but  whenever  you  wel- 
come the  hour." 

There  are  no  bacchanalianisms,  no  humorous  ditties,  no 
anacreontics,  no  lively  glees  or  rattling  choruses;  but  melody 
comes  and  sits  beside  us,  in  sober  raiment  clad,  low-voiced 
and  pensive.  Loud  tones  would  seem  to  jar  the  quiescent 
air,  to  grate  harshly  on  the  ear  of  listening  night,  attuned  to 
tranquil  harmonies.  The  only  interruption  is  when  one  asks 
gently    for   a   light   for   his   cigar.     The  moon  sails   swiftly 


THROUGH   THE   CARHilSEAX    SEA.  241 

through  the  sky,  her  progress  marked  by  fleeting  clouds, 
shifting  buoys  in  the  azure  sea  ;  while  occasional  translucent 
veils  of  vapor  cover  her  face,  through  whicli  argent  ra\s  out- 
shine prismatic — an  aureola  of  transcendent  beaut\-. 

Then  the  old  expedient  of  holding  communion  with  the 
absent  by  gazing  on  the  same  star  at  the  same  hour  (which 
was  practised  by  Enoch  and  Seth  when  they  left  their  spouses 
for  a  night  to  attend  a  convocation  of  the  Knights  Tenij)- 
lar — and  will  continue  so  long  as  the  world  lasts)  comes  to 
mind,  and  the  thought  springs  up  that  this  same  moon,  which 
paves  the  Caribbean  Sea  with  silver  ripples,  is  shining  serene 
over  the  mounds  on  a  green  hill  far  away,  dropping  in  leafy 
infiltration  through  the  branches  of  stout-limbed  trees  into 
luminous  bleachings  on  the  dark  green  grass.  And  it  whitens 
the  tombs  in  the  cemetery,  which  do  not  appear  so  unat- 
tractive in  this  solemn  light  of  meditation. 

Yes,  this  is  the  same  moon  that  gleamed  on  the  prow  of 
Cleopatra's  silken  galley :  that  lighted  the  conventual  retreat 
of  Heloise  and  the  cloistered  seclusion  of  Abclard  ;  that 
shone  on  Paul  and  Virginia,  wandering  hand  in  hand,  chaste 
and  innocent,  near  the  sanctified  cocoa-tree  ;  the  same  moon 
that  on  such  a  night  molded  the  wooing  words  of  swcct- 
tongucd  Lorenzo  to  fit  the  heart-framed  ear  of  fair  Jessica. 
There  has  been  no  change  in  the  moon  for  lo\'ers  since 
"  Adam  dolve  and  Eve  span."  It  is  the  light  that  illumed 
Paradise,  and  it  w^ill  be  the  light  of  Paradise  for  all  time.  It 
is  the  same  light  that  flooded  broad  meadow  slopes,  from 
which  the  night  breeze  came  heavy-laden  with  the  scent  of 
new-mown  hay,  on  the  way  back  from  the  Ealls,  but  \ainly 
essayed  to  penetrate  the  kindly  shades  of  the  road  that 
wound  through  obscuring  forests  in  the  favoring  glatic.  It  is 
the  same  light  that  made  glorified  mirrors  of  the  window- 
panes  at  which  you  gazed  long  hours  in  rapt  devotion  ;  or 
16 


242  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

before  which  the  strains  of  the  serenade  ascended  in  worship^ 
ing  tone  to  the  sanctuary  they  enclosed  : 

Serenade, 
to  a  memory  of  the  past. 

Good-night  !  I  'neath  thy  casement  sing — 

May  angels  fill  thy  pillow  soft 
With  plumage  plucked  from  heavenly  wing 

To  bear  thy  holy  dreams  aloft. 

Sweetheart — Good-night ! 

Good-night !  stars  smile  in  mirrored  stream, 

While,  over  meadow's  fair  expanse, 
Benignant  planets  kindly  gleam 

To  light  good  fairies'  midnight  dance. 

Sweetheart — Good-night ! 

Good-night !  now  glittering  dew-drops  deck 

The  velvet  bosom  of  the  lawn, 
Fit  jewels  for  thy  snow-white  neck, 

Bright  as  thy  sapphired  eyes  at  dawn. 

Sweetheart — Good-night ! 

Good-night  !  the  honeysuckle  vine 

Spiced  night-wind's  odors,  chaliced,  sips. 

Its  censer,  swinging  in  thy  shrine, 
Finds  sweetest  incense  on  thy  lips. 

Sweetheart — Good-night  I 

Good-night  !  when  moonbeams  chastely  glide 

Within  thy  chamber's  hallowed  fane, 
May  sainted  spirits  there  abide 

And  o'er  thy  stainless  slumbers  reign. 

Sweetheart — Good-night ! 

Good-night !  and  if  in  darksome  hour 
Some  sound  should  startle,  do  not  fear ! 

No  evil  may  invade  thy  bower, 
A  lover's  heart  stands  sentry  near. 

Sweetheart — Good-night ! 


THROUGH   THE    CAKHJllKAX    SKA.  243 

Good-night !  when  glowing  glance  of  Morn 

Peers  in  thy  blushing  lattice-bar, 
The  roses  which  thy  cheek  adorn 

Than  this  warm  look  more  crimsoned  are. 
Sweetheart — Good-night  ! 

Good-night  !  as  fond  birds  come  to  wake 

Their  playmate  in  her  downy  nest, 
Breathe  prayer  seraphic  for  his  sake 

Who  wears  thine  image  in  his  breast. 

Good-night,  Sweetheart — Good-night  ! 

"Ah,"  said  Uncle  John,  with  a  ruminant  sigh,  "  when  I 
look  at  that  moon,  moving  majestically  through  cerulean  space 
like  a  stately  ship  full-rigged,  I  recall  the  time  when  the  warm 
blood  coursed  in  my  youthful  veins,  swift  as  the  water  rush- 
ing through  29  Hose  ;  when  all  nature  was  smiling  and  gay. 
I  think  of  those  dulcet  moonlight  nights  when  two  eyes  could 
see  for  four,  and  four  arms  were  but  two  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses. This  salt  air  is  transformed  in  memory's  condenser 
to  the  perfume  of  lilacs  in  Harlem  Lane,  or  the  freshness  of 
dew  sprinkled  spruce-trees  on  the  old  Bloomingdale  Road, 
and " 

"  Gammon  !  "  interrupted  the  startling  voice  of  the 
Commodore,  breaking  in  on  the  plaintive  clarionet-like  notes 
of  Uncle  John,  like  the  blare  of  loud  bassoon  heard  by  the 
wedding-guest  in  the  Ancient  Mariner — '  a  gammon  !  '  who 
will  play  three  hits  or  a  gammon  for  a  drink  of  lemonade  ?  " 

The  Commodore  has  no  poetry  in  his  soul  !  To  break  up 
poetic  reverie  with  backgammon  !  Yet  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  gammon  in  poetry. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

CURAgOA. 

The  Pilot — Fortifications — The  Dock — Peddlers — Custom  House — The 
Church — Geneva — Roman  Organ — Jewish  Synagogue — Commerce — • 
Pirates — Smugglers — Vegetation — Water — Goats — Municipal  Divi- 
sion—  Vis  hiertia — Streets — Romeo  and  Juliet — Vessels — Vene- 
zuela— Slavery — Negroes — Dialect — So-long. 

CuRAgOA,  April  4,  1884. 
The  appearance  of  Curagoa,  as  we  lay  in  the  offing,  on  the 
morning  of  April  ist,  brought  to  mind  views  in  Holland. 
The  place  presented  the  appearance  of  a  Dutch  town,  the 
houses  had  the  same  look,  yellow-tinted,  with  white  copings, 
and  brown  and  red  tiled-roofs.  Before  we  landed,  there  could 
be  predicated  of  this  aspect,  Dutch  cleanliness,  order,  and 
neatness.  One  could  almost  imagine  himself  approaching 
Rotterdam  or  sailing  in  lazily  from  the  Zuyder  Zee. 

We  had  to  wait  for  a  pilot,  as  there  is  but  one  licensed  for 
the  port,  but  after  a  time  a  well-manned  boat  approached, 
and  a  quiet,  self-possessed  negro  stepped  aboard  to  take 
charge  of  our  entry.  There  was  nothing  remarkable  about 
his  handsome,  portly  person,  unless  it  was  the  novel  seaman- 
attire  of  Panama  hat  and  embroidered  slippers,  in  which  he 
ignored  the  professional  array  of  the  pilot  of  our  shores — a 
black  plug  hat  and  heavy  boots.  .  Uncle  John  looked  at  the 
slippers  inquiringly,  but  observed  nothing  extraordinary 
about  them,  not  even  in  size,  though  they  were  quite  large  ; 
nearly  big  enough  for  a  Syracuse  belle.     We  had  handsomer 


CURArOA.  245 

designs  in  our  combined  exposition  aboard.  This  knowledge 
was  gratifying,  for  it  would  have  grie\'ed  our  glass  of  fashion 
and  mould  of  form  to  find  a  black  pilot  excelling  us  in  any 
point  of  dress  ;  even  were  he  the  petted  of  dusk  beauty  in 
the  highest  circles  of  colored  Curacoan  society  ;  the  recipi- 
ent of  as  many  favors  as  the  much-beslippered  popular  cler- 
gyman in  the  holiday  season. 

The  harbor  entrance  is  imposing,  flanked  by  stone  forts 
which,  while  they  would  offer  but  ineffectual  resistance  to 
iron-clads,  are  calculated  to  inspire  terror,  like  the  restive 
horses  of  militia-officers  at  a  "  general-training."  We  passed, 
through  the  frowning  portals,  by  the  Governor's  yellow  pal- 
ace, a  handsome  building  with  capacious  balconies,  before 
which  guard  was  being  mounted  in  a  slovenly,  perfunctory 
manner.  There  is  abundant  evidence  of  military  occupation, 
in  the  forbidding  guns — grinning  black  teeth  in  the  harbor's 
mouth — and  the  soldiers  who  loiter  in  the  streets,  both,  I 
believe,  equally  harmless.  Adjoining  the  fort,  on  the  right 
as  you  enter,  is  a  dismantled  water-battery,  with  two  or  three 
honeycombed  guns,  mounted  en  barbette,  feebly  lingering  on 
the  dilapidated  wails,  like  tremulous  autumnal  flies  clinging 
to  a  crumbling  pie-crust.  Near  this  is  an  interior  fortifica- 
tion or  citadel — containing  a  bomb-proof,  with  elaborate  in- 
terior passages — within  which  are  the  barracks  for  trooi).s  ;  a 
poor  lot  of  men  as  compared  with  our  soldiers,  or  the  armies 
of  England,  France,  Germany,  and  Austria.  The  garrison 
consists  of  one  company  of  whites,  sent  out  from  Holland, 
with  an  occasional  black  soldier,  enlisted  here. 

Fort  Nassau,  situated  on  a  high  hill  further  inlantl,  is  a 
strong  work,  mounting  heavy  guns,  and  important  from  its 
commanding  position.  It  is  used  for  a  signal-station.  These 
works  are  all  old  style,  stone  fortifications,  ineffectual  as  de- 
fenses against  armor-plated  ships,  which  would  knock  them 


246  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

into  smithereens.  Curacoa  could  make  no  prolonged  resists 
ance  to  any  navy,  saving,  perhaps,  that  of  the  United  States, 
which,  like  John  Brougham's  actor  in  Heaven,  is  no  navy. 
It  was  formerly  a  walled  town,  but  walls  are  no  longer  fash- 
ionable, except  some  disjointed  relics,  like  those  of  Quebec, 
which  are  kept  as  curiosities,  or  the  enclosure  of  Chester, 
England,  used  as  a  promenade,  a  sort  of  English  wall-street. 
It  is  safer  walking  there  than  in  the  American  Wall  Street, 
which  abounds  in  slippery  places.  Lubrici  sunt  forttnicn 
cressus. 

We  wanted  to  sail  up  into  the  lagoon,  but  the  wind  being 
light,  the  pilot  determined  to  moor  the  yacht  at  the  dock. 
There  are  no  steam-tugs,  and  towing  would  have  to  be  done 
by  small  boats.  The  boats  which  ply  in  the  ferry  between 
Willemstad  and  Otrabanda  are  of  solid  Dutch  build,  flat- 
bottomed  scows,  square-ended,  propelled  by  an  oar  astern, 
with  the  motion  called  sculling.  Few  boats  are  to  be  seen 
with  side  oars  used  in  the  usual  manner,  nearly  all  are  sculled. 
The  Commodore  was  prompted  to  remark  that  these  boat- 
men must  do  a  great  deal  of  head-work — they  use  their  sculls 
so  much.  He  paid  his  fine.  I  think  I  saw  that  joke  in  Joe 
Miller ;  or  heard  it  aboard  the  Alliance. 

As  it  turned  out,  we  might  have  gone  into  the  lagoon  and 
anchored  there  instead  of  tying  up  to  the  dock,  to  run  the 
risk  of  being  boarded  by  rats,  cockroaches,  and  such  "  small 
deer,"  from  which  infliction  we  have  been  fortunately  exempt 
thus  far,  notwithstanding  two  weeks'  foggy  adhesion  to  Pier 
3  N.  R.,  waiting  for  a  send-off.  With  the  exception  of  three 
mosquitoes  who  paid  us  a  short  visit  of  courtesy,  and  not  on 
business,  at  Martinique,  and  considerately  retired  early 
without  taking  something,  contrary  to  the  habit  of  the  regu- 
lar visitor,  we  have  had  no  insects  of  any  kind  on  board. 
Whether  this  is  due  to  the  presence  of  detergent,  as  Uncle 


CURA(;OA.  247 

John  claims,  the  fear  of  James'  pills,  or  whether  it  is  a  recog- 
nition of  the  exemplary  conduct  of  the  voyagers— the  purity 
of  life  which  envelops  them  and  deters  gentlemen  of  question- 
able habits  from  seeking  their  society — is  a  point  that  I  am 
unable  to  determine.      I  leave  it  open  to  suspicion. 

Our  arrival  at  the  dock  was  watched  with  much  interest 
by  the  crowd  assembled,  a  concourse  of  unemployed,  who 
gazed  complacently  on  the  sailors  straining  at  the  warping- 
hawser,  and  offered  no  objection  to  their  perspiring  as  much 
as  the  effort  demanded.  One  of  the  amiable  characteristics 
of  the  idler  is  his  willingness  to  let  the  other  fellow  sweat. 
Hardly  had  we  made  fast,  when  the  dock  swarmed  with 
peddlers  of  carved  knicknacks,  fancy  boxes,  shell-work,  birds, 
and  straw-hats.  Many  of  these  were  women,  who  carried 
their  warehouses  of  merchandise  on  the  head,  as  is  the  habit 
of  sensible  persons  who  have  heavy  burdens  to  bear.  It  was 
somewhat  remarkable  that  the  first  display  of  wares  was  an 
assortment  of  vivid  cravats,  offered,  by  the  black  Autolyca 
who  bore  them,  to  Uncle  John,  in  whom,  with  feminine  in- 
tuition, she  recognized  a  sympathetic  purchaser.  But  she 
brought  her  goods  to  a  poor  market.  It  was  carrying  coals 
to  Newcastle,  or  recommending  Captain  Williams  to  play 
clubs  for  trumps.  There  was  notliing  in  her  stock  that  ri- 
valed in  splendor  the  gorgeous  deposit  which  glows  beneath 
in  the  depths  of  Uncle  John's  locker,  like  gems  of  purest  ray 
serene  the  dark  unfathom'd  caves  of  ocean  bear. 

The  first  visit  after  landing  was  to  the  Custom  House,  ac- 
companied by  Mr.  Gacrtse,  a  merchant  to  whom  we  had 
letters  of  introduction.  He  greatly  facilitated  our  business, 
which  was  to  impress  upon  the  collector,  Mr.  de  Veer,  that 
the  yacht's  commission  exempted  her  from  entry  and  clear- 
ance and  the  payment  of  port-dues,  compulsory  on  merchant- 
men.    The  infrequency  of  yacht  arrivals  (it  is  several  years 


248  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

since  one  was  here  before)  rendered  an  examination  of  laws 
and  treaties  necessary,  which  resulted  satisfactorily  to  the 
pleasant  collector.  We  learned  here  that  an  error  had  been 
made  in  reporting  us  from  the  telegraph  station.  Our  ensign 
was  mistaken  for  the  flag  of  the  Republic  of  Hayti,  and  we 
were  reported  as  a  Haytian  vessel.  Possibly  the  telegrapher 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  Commodore's  swarthy  face,  as  he  ap- 
peared on  deck,  with  cheek  darkly,  deeply,  beautifully  bronze, 
from  exposure  to  wind  and  weather.  Or  the  official  may 
have  known  that  he  was  a  Black  Republican — munificent  con- 
tributor to  the  hat  passed  around  for  soap  in  the  cause  of 
freedom. 

We  omitted  to  telegraph  our  arrival  to  New  York,  as  has 
been  customary  upon  reaching  other  ports.  Telegraphing  is 
an  extravagant  luxury  in  the  West  Indies,  and  we  are  begin- 
ning to  practice  economy.  Then  there  is  no  telegraph  in 
Cura^oa. 

After  leaving  the  Custom  House,  Mr.  Gaertse  kindly  de- 
voted himself  to  showing  us  the  public  offices  in  the  Govern- 
ment Square,  the  business-rooms  being  in  the  lower  story, 
and  the  Governor's  residence  in  the  apartments  above.  In 
the  same  enclosure  is  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  Mr, 
Gaertse,  who  is  a  deacon  in  this  church — the  State  establish- 
ment of  Holland — pointed  out  the  curiosities  of  the  plain 
and  unpretentious  old  building.  Inserted  over  the  entrance, 
like  a  wart  on  the  forehead,  is  a  cannon-ball,  fired  at  it,  about 
a  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  English  occupied  the  oppo- 
site shore  of  Otrabanda,  and  amused  themselves  by  pitching 
balls  at  Willemstad,  asserting  their  orthodoxy  by  apostohc 
blows  and  knocks  on  the  Calvinistic  church.  This  ball  has 
probably  been  permitted  to  remain  as  a  sign  of  the  church 
militant ;  after  the  fashion  of  Pompeiian  sculptures  over  the 
door,  indicating  the  business  carried  on  within.     The  floor 


CURAVOA.  249 

of  the  church  is  covered,  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  inches, 
with  hnc  white  sand,  which  lias  the  advantage  of  allording 
no  rcfu<^e  for  carpet-bugs,  and,  as  kncchng  is  not  part  of  the 
service,  it  furnishes  a  clean  lloor-cloth,  leniently  iissuaging 
the  clatter  of  late-arriving  brogans.  i\t  first,  one  accustomed 
to  the  Yankee  tavern  might  suppose  it  to  be  intended  for 
tobacco-chewers,  but  church-members  do  not  chew  tobacco 
here.  They  only  drink,  smoke,  play  cards  and  billiards,  and 
dance  on  Sunday.  There  is  no  prohibition  of  the  use  of  to- 
bacco, by  a  Conference,  on  religious  grounds,  as  being  con- 
trary to  the  teachings  of  the  liible,  in  which  no  permission  is 
grantefl  to  masticate,  but  they  choose  not  to  chew,  as  Uncle 
John  said.  It  isn't  chic  among  gentlemen  anywhere  but  in 
America. 

There  is  an  elaborate  enclosure  for  the  Governor,  and 
pews  for  the  elders  and  deacons,  but  chairs  for  the  general 
congregation,  the  vnlgns,  divided  by  an  aisle  through  the 
middle,  the  women  occupying  one  side  and  the  men  the 
other.  A  story  is  told  of  an  English  friend  of  ours  who 
attended  divine  service  and  insisted  on  sitting  among  the 
women — like  Achilles,  only  in  his  own  shape — saying  that 
he  always  sided  with  the  ladies.  In  this  division  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  the  sheep  and  the  goats  was  suggested. 

A  commendable  feature  of  the  service  here  is  the  omis- 
sion of  passing  the  plate.  As  the  government  pays  ex- 
penses, there  is  no  necessity  for  taking  up  a  collection,  but 
after  meeting  is  over  the  deacons  stand  at  the  door,  holding 
bags  in  which  those  who  choose  may  drop  their  offerings. 
There  is  no  echo  from  the  bottom  of  the  bag,  and  nobody 
knows  the  weight  of  his  neighbor's  contribution,  nor  is  it 
considered  obligatory  to  give  anything.  It  is  different  from 
the  delightful  little  church,  where  Vestryman  Josephus  Ar- 
noldus  levies  contributions,  like   an   ecclesiastical    Rob    Ro)-, 


250  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK, 

grimly  passing  the  defiant  plate,  raiding  the  pews  with  stern 
impartiality,  and  looking  daggers  at  anybody  who  puts  less 
than  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  in  his  sacerdotal  sporran. 

In  view  of  this  unrevealing  bag,  which  doesn't  let  the 
right  hand  of  the  deacon  know  what  the  left  hand  of  the 
donor  does,  the  copper  currency  of  Curacoa  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  church  purposes.  The  small  coin  has  the  value 
of  two-fifths  of  our  cent.  This  insignificance  of  expenditure 
appeals  strongly  to  the  religionist  of  an  economical  turn,  who 
finds  it  cheaper  to  go  to  church  and  put  something  in  the 
bag  than  to  stay  at  home  and  svaoke  periguc. 

During  the  terrible  hurricane  a  few  years  ago,  the  tiles 
were  lifted  bodily,  and  a  tidal  wave  setting  in,  the  church 
was  filled  with  water  through  the  roof;  converted  temporarily 
from  a  Dutch  Reformed  to  a  Baptist  church,  by  immersion. 
It  contains  a  fine  organ,  built  for  the  cathedral  at  Havana. 
While  the  war  was  in  progress  between  Spain  and  Columbia, 
it  was  captured  and  brought  here  by  a  pious  privateer  to  be 
placed  in  the  Catholic  church.  It  was  found  to  be — like  the 
surplices  on  the  choir-boys  at  Grace — too  high  for  the 
church,  and  as  the  Dutch  Reformed  congregation  had  a 
smaller  instrument  on  hand,  a  trade  was  effected,  and  now 
the  Catholic  organ  sounds  within  Protestant  walls,  while  the 
Protestant  accompanies  the  priest  singing  Mass.  Can  any- 
one say  that  the  worship  is  less  devout  because  of  this  change, 
that  the  tones  of  the  Protestant  organ  do  not  blend  harmoni- 
ously with  the  Adeste  Fidelis,  or  that  the  strains  of  the 
Catholic  do  not  fit  Sin  fcfte  ^urg  ift  unfcr  ®ott.  If  the  angels 
can  distinguish  any  inharmony  between  them,  they  have  ex- 
ceedingly fine  and  critical  ears  for  music. 

Little  religious  bigotry  exists.  The  Government  sup- 
ports the  church,  pays  the  salaries  of  ministers,  and  keeps 
the  buildings  in  repair,  but  it  pays  the  Catholic  priest  and 


cuRAf;OA.  251 

Jewish  rabbi  as  well  as  the  Protestant  minister.  In  the 
Dutch  Reformed  church  the  sermons  are  preached  in  Dutch, 
and  woX. papianicntOy  the  island  dialect.  After  visiting  many 
countries,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  \vc  arc  about 
as  bigoted  in  the  United  States  as  they  are  anywhere.  We 
talk  more  religion  and  believe  less,  we  prate  more  about 
religious  liberty  and  have  less  toleration  of  opinion,  than  any 
other  people.  Mr.  Gaertse  is  intelligently  liberal  in  his 
views,  and  is  happily  circumstanced  :  he  is  a  deacon  in  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church,  his  wife  is  a  Catholic,  and  he  has 
a  sister  a  nun.  Thus  he  has  a  part-proprietary  interest  in 
various  avenues  leading  to  Heaven. 

Of  the  twenty-five  thousand  population  of  Curacoa,  but 
three  thousand  is  Protestant.  The  negroes  are  all  Catholics, 
the  whites,  Protestants  and  Jews.  The  most  imposing 
structure  on  the  island  is  the  Catholic  cathedral,  not  yet 
completed.  The  Orthodox  Jewish  synagogue  is  a  large 
building,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  containing  some 
particularly  handsome  brass  chandeliers,  the  branchcd-can- 
dlestick.  The  sexton  who  showed  us  around  (I  don't  know 
his  church  title  in  Hebrew)  had  a  countenance  of  the  most 
pronounced  Jewish  type.  He  carried  the  exaggerated  beak 
of  an  eagle ;  indeed  it  was  large  enough  for  a  doubloon. 
Perhaps  the  prow  of  an  antique  galley  would  describe  it 
better.  He  didn't  understand  English  and  was  unable  to 
impart  any  information  when,  wanting  to  be  polite,  I  en- 
quired of  him  courteously,  as  if  I  were  addressing  John  Mc- 
Cullough  in  the  Fifth  Avenue  Theatre  :  "  What  news  in  the 
Rialto?"  What  he  knows  he  knows,  but  he  knows  enough 
not  to  give  his  "  knows  "  away.  It  would  give  him  away, 
however,  if  he  tried  to  pass  himself  off  as  a  Connaught  man 
in  Mackerelville.  Still  his  nose  might  be  subjected  to  a  few- 
yards'  excision  with  advantage  to  his  personal   appearance. 


252  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Then  he  would  navigate  better.  With  a  heavy  bowsprit,  he 
carries  too  much  head-sail  ;  he  is  down  by  the  head  ;  that's 
what  makes  him  shufifie  along  so  round-shouldered. 

There  is  a  split  between  the  conservative  Hebrews  and 
the  reformers  of  the  new  school,  who  have  a  fine  synagogue 
of  their  own.  The  Jews  are  powerful  here  and  control  trade. 
Business  brains  will  tell  everywhere.  Abe,  Ike,  and  Jake  are 
too  sharp  for  Hans  and  Derick.  You  can't  beat  the  Jews. 
The  Christians  are  very  jealous  of  them  in  a  commercial  way. 
The  money-changers  haunt  the  temple,  and  commerce  lurks 
behind  the  cross.  The  island  contains  one  Lutheran  and  one 
Dutch  Reformed  church,  two  Jewish  synagogues,  and  four 
Catholic  churches,  besides  a  chapel  attached  to  the  convent. 
You  see  I  give  you  a  good  deal  of  religious  information  in 
these  letters.  I  rather  run  to  that  sort  of  thing.  I  would  like 
to  see  somebody  who  knows  more  about  sectarian  divisions 
— or  who  cares  less.  I  look  into  these  as  matters  of  profitable 
inquiry.  Religion  enters  into  all  the  affairs  of  life,  social, 
domestic,  and  governmental.  You  know  that  in  Utica  per- 
sons who  become  rich,  and  want  to  get  into  "  good  society," 
must  quit  the  Methodist  Church  and  join  the  Episcopal. 

The  commerce  of  Curacoais  considerable,  but  it  has  fallen 
off  in  late  years.  It  is  an  entrepot  for  Venezuela.  Its  products 
are  light,  nothing  of  consequence  but  dye-woods,  peanuts, 
and  divi-divi.  In  this  last  article  of  commerce  it  might  get 
up  a  flourishing  trade  with  Albany,  where  there  is  often  com- 
plaint of  the  scarcity  of  "divvy"  during  sessions  of  the 
Legislature. 

The  productions  of  Curagoa  being  unimportant,  it  buys 
and  sells  everything.  It  is  a  general  broker  and  commission 
merchant  between  the  Spanish  Main  and  the  rest  of  the 
world.  The  light  duty  on  imports  makes  it  practically  a  free 
port,  while  the  exorbitant  tariff  of  Venezuela,    a  sweeping 


CUKA(,'OA.  253 

duty  of  thirty  per  cent.,  naturally  encourages  smugglin;^^ 
which  I  fancy  is  carried  on  largely,  despite  the  vigilance  exer- 
cised for  its  suppression.  The  proximate  free  port  to  a  coun- 
try so  heavily  protected  makes  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  Curacoan,  who  pays  but  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  duty, 
has  a  neighborly  feeling  of  sympathy  toward  the  Venezuelan, 
who  is  expected  to  pay  thirty — but  doesn't.  In  olden  time, 
Curacoa  was  a  great  place  for  pirates,  who  could  lurk  in  the 
lagoon,  with  their  light-draught,  swift  vessels,  and  dart  out 
and  pounce  upon  the  heavy  merchantmen  passing  in  the  open 
sea.  But  there  are  no  more  swash-buckler  corsairs  ;  the 
smuggler  has  taken  the  place  of  the  buccaneer.  The  emanci- 
pating _/?//^/^.!r/r;'^  sometimes  appears,  but  he  soon  gives  way 
to  the  cunning  contrabandist  a. 

The  island  is  rocky,  with  scanty  vegetation,  parched  and 
gasping  for  moisture.  Rain  falls  but  seldom,  sometimes  not 
once  in  two  years  ;  when  it  does  come  the  grateful  earth 
quickly  responds  in  marvelous  rapid  growth.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  lack  of  moisture,  conflagrations  are  unknown.  It  is 
said  that  a  house  won't  burn  down  under  the  greatest  provoca- 
tion. Insurance  companies,  therefore,  have  no  business  here. 
I  told  a  good  story  about  the  insurance  business,  which  was 
lost  because  the  hearers  didn't  see  the  point.  They  were 
Dutch.  The  story  is  this  :  Moses  Levi,  clothier  of  Cincinnati, 
inquired  at  the  Chicago  telegraph  office  for  a  message,  two 
days  in  succession,  and  was  in  great  perturbation  at  his  failure 
to  receive  one.  When  he  applied  on  the  third  day,  a  tele- 
gram was  handed  him,  whereupon,  before  opening  it,  he 
burst  into  tears  and  exclainied,  "  Mcin  Gott !  Mein  Gott  !  my 
shtore  ish  burnt  down." 

Of  course  there  is  no  Fire  Department,  and  no  tickets  for 
excursions,  picnics,  and  balls.  Rain-water  is  used,  and  it 
cannot  be — like  the  youngster  just  out  of  college  going  into 


2  54  TJiE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

politics — "  too  fresh,"  when  we  consider  that  it  is  sometimes 
kept  two  years  in  tanks.  I  beheve  water  undergoes  some 
chemical  change,  some  decomposition  of  organic  matter  held 
in  solution,  which  exercises  a  clarifying  effect  and  makes  it 
sweeter  and  purer  than  when  first  drawn.  I  have  seen  this 
aboard  ships  where  water  in  the  tanks  has  been  kept  a 
long  time — I  have  seen,  not  tasted.  Uncle  John  got  up  an 
ingenious  idea  as  a  remedy  for  this  dryness.  He  suggested 
that,  in  order  to  raise  moisture,  the  business  men  might  come 
to  the  front — as  they  do  every  four  years  in  front  of  the  Sub- 
Treasury  building  in  New  York,  saving  the  country  from 
commercial  disaster  by  contributing  to  the  support  of  the 
men  who  make  a  living  out  of  politics.  The  merchants  here 
might  go  into  liquidation,  with  drafts  falling  dew,  and  notes 
whose  makers  are  mist.     Uncle  John  is  perfectly  incorrigible. 

Sheep  and  goats  abound,  the  goat  abounding  more  than 
the  sheep,  as  is  its  habit.  Curacoa-kid  is  a  standard  quality 
of  leather,  though  all  skins  so  classed  do  not  come  from  the 
island,  South  America  furnishing  the  bulk  of  them.  The 
name  is  no  indication  of  the  origin  of  an  article.  There  is 
the  famous  Curagoa  liqueur,  for  instance.  Not  a  drop  of  it 
is  made  here.  It  is  distilled  in  Holland,  and  takes  its  desig- 
nation from  the  peculiar  aromatic  bitterness  of  the  Curacoa 
orange-peel  with  which  it  was  flavored  originally.  But  the 
orange  no  longer  grows  here  in  sufficient  quantity  to  sup- 
ply the  requirements  of  this  distillation.  The  trees  have 
died  out,  and  now  the  Curacoa  flavor  is  imparted  by  the  peel 
of  Havana  and  Jamaica  oranges.  One  of  the  peculiarities  of 
the  Curacoa  orange  is  that  it  is  not  good  to  eat.  The  skin  is 
used  and  the  pulp  thrown  away.  The  Curacoa  ligjieur,  then, 
is  Incus  a  non  liicendo. 

How  goats  manage  to  make  a  living  is  a  mystery.  The 
supply  of  old    boots  is  trifling,  the  greater  portion    of  the 


CURAfOA.  255 

populace  going  barefooted,  while  the  frugal  save  their  vege- 
table-cans for  soup-tureens.  There  are  no  discarded  hoop- 
skirts  and  bustles,  and,  as  the  goat  is  unable  to  tackle  the 
cactus,  on  account  of  the  lanceolate  defense,  it  must  live  by 
its  wits. 

Nature  has  some  wise  object  in  every  creation.  Some  of 
them  are  inscrutable,  but  there  is  wisdom  in  everything,  ex- 
cept long  sermons  on  hot  Sundays.  However,  we  are  not 
troubled  much  with  them,  as  the  churches  are  closed  during 
the  warm  weather  by  ministerial  sore-throat.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  during  that  period,  there  are  no  admissions  to 
Heaven  ;  it  is  closed  to  give  the  attendant  cherubim  and 
seraphim  a  vacation.  The  object  in  the  creation  of  the  cac- 
tus involves  a  conundrum  that  it  would  puzzle  G^dipus  to 
answer,  but  I  believe  it  was  intended  to  present  an  insolva- 
ble  problem  to  the  omnivorous  goat.  I  never  heard  of  a 
goat  being  choked  by  anything  except  an  independent  New 
York  newspaper,  containing  a  demonstration,  by  fractional 
tables,  of  the  accomplishment  of  its  political  prophesies.  Even 
the  Harlem  goat  couldn't  stomach  that.  I  don't  know  what 
makes  the  Curagoa  kid-skin  superior.  It  may  be  something 
in  the  flavor  of  the  edible  rocks,  more  pronounced  by  reason 
of  the  absence  of  diluent  rain  to  weaken  their  pungency. 
The  Cura^oa  goat  doesn't  feed  on  sodden,  slippery  stones  ; 
lie  wants  something  substantial.  That  goat  has  a  gneiss  taste 
in  petrology. 

Curacoa  is  divided  by  the  waters  of  the  harbor  into 
four  divisions,  named,  respectively,  Willemstad,  Otrabanda, 
Scharlo,  and  Pietermay.  The  harbor  proper,  which  leads  to 
the  inlying  lagoon,  separates  Willemstad  from  Otrabanda, 
the  principal  business  quarters,  with  communication  by  the 
sculled  boats  before  mentioned.  These  punts  are  very  handy 
and  the  ferriage   is  but  half-a-cent  a  passenger.     They  are 


256  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

not  large  enough  for  vehicles,  but  may  be  lashed  together. 
A  gentleman  told  us  that  he  saw  a  queer  funeral  procession 
crossing  on  the  ferry  from  Willemstad  to  Otrabanda.  The 
hearse  was  placed  on  two  boats,  and  the  horses  swam  across 
the  stream.  The  coffin  was  not  floated,  but  remained  in  the 
hearse,  on  sticks,  in  charge  of  Charon. 

Scharlo  is  separated  from  Willemstad  by  a  lateral  extension 
of  the  harbor  into  a  smaller  lake,  crossed  by  a  draw-bridge, 
owned  by  a  private  corporation  which  charges  toll,  and  earns 
heavy  dividends.  The  Catholic  Cathedral  is  at  the  head  of 
this  sheet  of  water,  the  most  conspicuous  position  in  the 
place,  Pietermay  is  a  continuation  of  Scharlo,  extending  to 
the  suburbs. 

The  lagoon,  or  inner  harbor,  stretches  inland,  forming  a 
broad,  beautiful  lake,  shallow  in  places  but  deep  enough  for 
a  man-of-war  to  ride  at  anchor  near  the  entrance,  where  a 
Dutch  frigate  is  now  moored.  A  finer  sheet  of  water  for 
rowing  it  would  be  hard  to  find,  yet,  strange  to  say,  there  is 
not  a  boating  club  in  Curacoa,  and  not  half  a  dozen  private 
boats.  It  is  different  with  carriages.  All  the  conveyances 
are  private  ;  there  isn't  a  public  vehicle  on  the  island.  The 
roads  are  good,  but  there  is  little  driving.  It  would  seem  to  be 
impossible  to  overcome  the  vis  inertice  of  Curacoa.  Whether 
it  is  owing  to  the  climate  (^like  dipsomania  in  the  United 
States),  to  the  sluggishness  of  the  Dutch  blood,  or  to  what- 
ever cause,  there  is  a  pervading  languor,  not  calculated  to 
stimulate  great  enterprises.  Rip  Van  Winkle  would  not  have 
been  out  of  place  here,  if  he  could  keep  sober,  and  would 
break  himself  of  the  bad  habit  of  indulging  in  sufficient  en- 
ergy to  go  a-hunting. 

Asses  and  mules  are  numerous,  and  are  to  be  met  in  the 
country  roads,  bearing  their  burdens  as  meekly  and  patiently 
as  if  they  expected  something  to  eat  when  they  got  through. 


cuRAroA.  257 

The  donkeys  do  not  appear  to  be  extraordinarily  large,  yet 
they  must  be  great  asses  to  live  here  ;  Dutch  orphans  without 
an\'  fodder. 

We  saw  ncgresses  bestriding  the  animals  after  the  man- 
ner of  men.  They  seemed  to  consult  comfort  ratlier  than 
propriety.  There  is  no  reason  why  they  shouldn't  adopt  the 
easiest  attitude.  I  once  saw  some  women  riding  in  the  same 
fashion  out  among  the  Rocky  Mountains.  They  were  from 
Greeley,  Colorado,  clad  in  epicene,  bifurcated  garments. 
They  wore  trousers  ;  I  don't  think  the  negresses  did.  They 
seemed  to  have  long  black  stockings  on.  The  donkeys  here 
enjoy  a  gallant  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  fair  sex.  Jack 
does  all  the  work  ;  Jenny  is  a  kidy,  and  idles  at  home,  except 
when  engrossed  by  maternal  cares.  Wild  asses  are  to  be 
found  in  some  parts  of  the  island. 

The  streets  are  narrow  ;  the  widest  is  Broad  Street,  in 
Willemstad,  thirty  feet.  The  pavements  are  good,  of  small, 
oblong  blocks,  something  like  Medina  or  Hammond  sand- 
stone. Their  fine  condition  would  indicate  that  they  were 
not  laid  by  contract.  In  the  older  parts  of  the  town  the 
streets  are  about  fifteen  feet  wide,  in  some  not  more  than 
six;  mere  slits  among  the  buildings,  fissures  in  a  mass  of 
masonry  ;  wooden  balconies,  abutting  the  upper  windows, 
often  meet  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  In  order  to  make 
Juliet's  balcony  accessible,  Romeo  need  only  hire  tlie  house 
over  the  way,  when  the  contiguity  of  his  balcony  would  sa\e 
him  the  trouble  of  climbing.  And  when  he  exclaims,  "  l^ut. 
soft  !  what  light  through  yonder  window  breaks."  he  wouldn't 
be  foolish  enough  to  say,  "  It  is  the  East,  and  Juliet  is  the 
sun,"  for  he  knows  very  well  that  the  sun  never  penetrates 
these  cracks  of  streets,  but  that  the  light  is  probably  a  kero- 
sene night-lamp  in  the  old  lady's  bedroom,  left  burning  lor 
Cap.,  who  is  out  carrying  a  transparency  with  his  Ward  Club. 
»7 


258  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

It  wouldn't  answer  to  have  the  Montagues  and  Capulets  in 
the  same  street.  They  could  reach  across  while  at  breakfast 
and  tweak  each  other's  noses  without  getting  up  from  the 
table.  It  would  afford  dangerous  facility  for  collision,  yet  it 
would  be  rather  a  safe  place,  after  all,  for  nobody  could  draw 
a  sword  without  facing  it  lengthwise,  and  it  is  not  so  deep  as 
a  well,  nor  so  wide  as  a  church  door.  Then  there  is  no  glass 
in  the  windows  and  Montaguese  and  Capulettish  dames  could 
scold  each  other  to  their  hearts'  content,  without  being  com- 
pelled to  go  into  the  street,  after  the  Italian  fashion  in  the 
Strada  di  Mulberri. 

We  met  no  umbrellas  in  Curacoa.  It  never  rains,  and  the 
narrow  streets  are  always  shady.  Besides,  it  would  require 
some  exertion  to  raise  an  umbrella. 

In  1877,  seven  immense  tidal  waves  swept  over  the  best 
portion  of  Willemstad,  destroying  the  buildings,  making  a 
clean  sweep  and  wrecking  everything  in  the  inundated  dis- 
trict. Fortunately,  the  loss  of  life  on  land  was  slight,  as  the 
disaster  occurred  in  the  morning,  and  the  fierce  hurricane, 
which  commenced  at  midnight,  had  given  timely  warning  for 
the  inhabitants  to  escape  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  devastated 
portion  has  been  but  partially  rebuilt.  Haste  is  not  a  Cura- 
9oan  weakness.  But  Rome  wasn't  built  in  a  day.  I  doubt 
whether  anything  could  be  built  here  in  a  day,  not  even  a 
mansard  on  the  head  of  a  pugilist.  It  would  take  two  days 
for  the  contusion  to  develop  a  swelling.  The  sun  rises  and 
sets  the  same  day,  but  he  is  only  an  habitual  visitor,  he 
doesn't  reside  in  Curacoa  altogether.  During  the  hurricane, 
many  vessels  were  stranded,  and  four  were  dragged  from 
their  moorings,  swept  out  to  sea,  and  never  heard  from 
again. 

A  schooner  is  on  the  stocks  near  where  we  are  moored. 
She  is  of  good  model,  rather  full  in  the  bows,  with  a  remark- 


cuRA(;oA.  259 

ably  clean  run  aft,  resembling  tlic  Montauk  somewhat  in  this 
particular.  She  is  built  of  tough  Maracaibo  wood,  with  stem, 
sternpost,  and  ribs  of  mahogany,  and  mahogany  under  the 
knees  ;  reversing  our  use  of  the  rare  wood,  for  we  put  our 
knees  under  the  iliahogany.  Think  of  employing  this  pre- 
cious timber  in  constructing  the  frames  of  vessels  !  No  iron 
is  used,  but  all  the  nails,  rivets,  and  bolts  are  of  composite 
metal.  This  schooner — like  one  of  John  Hirt's  on  a  mid- 
summer day — is  evidently  intended  for  quick  work.  We 
didn't  learn  for  whom  she  was  building,  but  it  wouldn't 
be  strange  if  she  turned  up  some  fine  day  with  a  cargo 
of  tobacco  for  Venezuela,  courteously  waiving  the  formality 
of  paying  thirty  per  cent,  duty,  in  order  to  save  the  Cus- 
toms' officers  trouble.  Many  fast  schooners  sail  from  this 
port. 

No  arms  or  ammunition  arc  permitted  to  be  sold,  but  I 
have  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  when  a  revolution  breaks  out  in 
South  America  (these  little  affairs  are  about  as  certain  as  hur- 
ricanes) there  will  be  plenty  of  arm  caches  in  the  island,  for 
the  delving  of  adventurous  filibusters,  and  transportation  of 
such  swift  sailers  as  the  one  on  the  stocks. 

Venezuela  is  quiet  just  now.  The  President,  Guzman 
Blanco,  administers  the  government  with  firmness  and  dis- 
cretion. I  don't  know  how  long  it  is  since  Blanco  turned  the 
other  man  out  and  put  himself  in,  but  his  term  as  President 
has  expired,  and  as  there  is  a  constitutional  disability  to  his 
re-election,  he  continues  to  hold  over,  neglecting  to  order  an 
election  for  his  successor.  I  am  unable  to  sec  how  a  South 
American  can  let  such  a  little  thing  as  a  Constitution  stand 
in  his  way.  He  could  sweep  it  aside  at  once  with  a  well- 
loaded  military  necessity.  If  he  wants  to  hold  the  office 
again,  I  wonder  it  didn't  occur  to  him  to  create  an  Electoral 
Commission.     We  do  these  things  better  in  North  America, 


260  THE    CRUISE   OF,  THE   MONTAUK. 

where  the  will  of  the  people  is  the  supreme  law,  and  the  ma- 
jority rules. 

Slavery  existed  until  the  year  1863,  when,  through  the 
indefatigable  efforts  of  the  philanthropic  Governor  Crol,  it 
was  abolished,  by  formal  proclamation  of  the  King  of  Hol- 
land. At  noon  on  the  first  day  of  July,  a  salute  of  twenty- 
one  guns  was  fired  from  the  fort,  and  at  the  sound  of  the 
cannon  the  fetters  fell  off  every  slave  in  Cura^oa.  In  our  own 
land,  the  idol  of  slavery  tumbled  from  its  pedestal  at  the 
sound  of  the  gun  that  fired  on  the  flag  of  the  Union  at  Fort 
Sumter.  Holland  paid  from  ten  to  twelve  millions  of  florins 
for  the  manumission  of  these  slaves.  Emancipation  cost  us 
much  more,  but  Holland  had  no  politicians  and  army  con- 
tractors to  pay,  no  blundering  marplots  to  enhance  the  cost 
of  war.  I  imagine  Holland  is  honester  than  our  great  fan- 
faronading  nation,  where  the  horn  of  the  hypocrite  is  heard 
on  the  hill. 

The  black  population  of  Curagoa  outnumbers  the  white, 
in  the  proportion  of  about  seven  to  one.  The  negroes  are 
quiet,  orderly,  and  well-behaved.  Liquor  is  cheap,  but  there 
is  no  drunkenness.  Even  white  men  don't  get  drunk  in 
Cura9oa.  I  suggested  to  Captain  Smith,  the  United  States 
Vice  Consul,  who  is  from  the  State  of  Maine,  that  he  might 
change  this  condition  of  society  by  bringing  Neal  Dow  down 
and  starting  a  Maine  liquor  law,  importing  a  few  frightful  ex- 
amples from  Portland,  where  no  liquor  is  sold,  for  a  stock  in 
trade. 

The  common  language  is  called  papiamento,  and  is  an  olla 
podrida,  2,  patois,  with  a  base  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  a 
stratum  of  Dutch,  an  admixture  of  English,  and  an  infusion 
of  other  languages,  to  make  it  thick  and  slab.  As  a  rule,  the 
whites  speak  English,  particularly  those  in  business,  and 
nearly  all  are  in  trade  :  the  aristocracy  here  is  commercial. 


CURA(;OA.  361 

They  are  conversant  with  American  affairs,  and  all  read  the 
New  York  Herald.  Whether  this  gives  them  accurate  infor- 
mation regarding  our  governmental  afTairs,  1  don't  venture 
to  assert,  for  fear  of  provoking  the  indignation  of  rival  New 
York  newspapers.  They  can  learn  something  about  one  J. 
Kelly  from  the  Herald.  Everybody  says  "  so-long,"  instead 
of  good-by  or  aii  revoir.  I  don't  know  what  language  it  is, 
but  I  have  been  informed  that  slong  is  a  sort  of  slang  im- 
ported from  China. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CURA9OA—  Continued. 

Peter  Stuyvesant — Government — Orthoepy — Mr.  Gaertse — Wages — 
Straw-plaiting — Grosira — Venomous  Reptiles — Cactus — Znikc7-ti- 
iintze — A  Frugal  Repast — Fireworks — The  Governor — A  Glass  of 
Wine — Religion — Sunday  Observance — Light  Clothing — A  Tableau 
— Historical  Sketch — Arcadia. 

CURAgoA,  April  5,  18S4. 
CURA(jOA  boasts  of  being  the  birthplace  of  Peter  Stuyvesant, 
who  went  from  here  to  New  York.  Uncle  John  claims  that 
he  often  saw  Hard-Koppig  Peter  pegging  up  the  Bowery  to 
a  morning-tansy  laboratory  on  the  corner  of  Walker  Street, 
but  I  doubt  it,  notwithstanding  my  ordinary  reliance  on  his 
credibility.  He  must  be  mistaken.  He  was  too  young  to 
remember  the  Iron  Governor.  He  confounds  him  with  his 
old  chum  Tom.  Dongan,  the  Roman  Catholic  Governor  who 
gave  New  York  its  first  charter  of  liberty.  Uncle  John  is 
given  to  mystifications,  and  tries  to  stuff  me  with  marvels, 
like  an  Irish  jaunting-car  driver  plying  the  English  cockney 
tourist  with  bams.  I  know  a  man  who  probably  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Governor  Stuyvesant,  when  he  went  to  New 
York,  on  a  flat-boat,  to  purchase  paper-hangings,  but  Uncle 
John  can't  fool  me.  I  am  not  credulous,  except  when  the 
girls  tell  me  that  I  am  looking  better  than  I  ever  did. 

Curacoa  had  no  regular  steam  communication  with  any 
ports  besides  Porto  Caballo  and  La  Guayra,  in  Venezuela, 
until  recently.     Now  there  is  a  fortnightly  line  of  steamers  to 


CURA(;OA,  263 

New  York,  the  Red  D,  which,  I  understood  Captain  Hess, 
of  the  Valencia,  to  claim,  is  the  only  regular  line  of  ocean 
steamers  with  American  bottoms,  flying  the  United  States 
flag.  I  may  have  misunderstood  him,  for  the  Havana  lines 
are  American. 

The  government  is  administered  by  a  Governor,  ap- 
pointed by  the  King  of  the  Netherlands.  There  is  a  Council 
of  thirteen,  a  close  corporation,  a  continuing  body,  electing 
its  own  members,  under  governmental  confirmation.  The 
judiciary  consists  of  one  presiding  judge  and  two  assistants, 
appointed  by  the  King,  and  one  assistant,  named  by  the 
Governor.  The  animosity  between  the  Dutch  and  Germans 
is  implacable.  No  Germans  need  apply.  The  Dutch  have 
taken  Holland.  There  are  no  Irish  ;  all  the  corner  groceries 
are  kept  by  Dutchmen. 

The  expenses  of  administration  amount  to  $200,000  per 
annum,  a  trifle  less  than  the  cost  of  governing  New  York. 
The  taxes  on  real  estate  are  light,  and  the  duties  on  imports 
a  mere  trifle,  the  great  source  of  revenue  being  the  phos- 
phatic  beds  of  Santa  Barbara,  claimed  to  be  the  richest  in 
the  world.  The  royalty  paid  the  government  for  the  conces- 
sion amounts  to  nearly  enough  to  defray  the  expenses  of  ad- 
ministration, so  that  the  colony  may  be  said  to  be  self-sup- 
porting. The  cost  of  the  small  military  establishment  is  not 
included. 

We  were  put  down  for  the  principal  club,  of  which  Dr. 
Ferguson  is  President,  and  found  it  pleasant  and  well-ap- 
pointed. There  is  another  club  here,  the  Semper  Creseeiido, 
which  must  be  some  insurrectionary  organization,  alwax's  ris- 
ing. Fortunately  we  were  not  compelled  to  pronounce  the 
name  of  our  club,  Gczelighcid  (sociabilit)'),  or  we  might  not 
have  been  able  to  find  our  way  to  the  house.  Speaking  of 
names,  we  insisted  upon  the  right  of  mispronunciation  which 


264  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

the  true  American  glories  in,  and  maintains,  with  erroneous 
stubbornness,  at  home  and  abroad.  Therefore  we  persisted 
in  addressing  Mr.  Gaertse  with  the  phonetic  sound  his  name 
would  have  in  EngHsh,  according  to  the  spelhng,  whereas  in 
Dutch  the  g  has  the  aspirate  sound  of  h.  I  made  several 
praiseworthy  efforts  to  get  it  right,  practicing  on  "horse- 
car"  with  a  sauce  of  violent  influenza  sneeze,  and  "aspara- 
gus "  with  epizootic  dressing,  but  failed.  The  amen  stuck  in 
my  throat.  One  attempt  gave  Uncle  John  a  quinsy  sore- 
throat  for  three  days. 

We  are  very  lax  in  orthoepic  observance.  I  have  a  shib- 
boleth for  the  mispronouncing  American.  I  ask  "  how  do 
you  pronounce  few  ?  "  He  answers  "  fyou."  Then  how  do 
you  pronounce  "  new  ?  "  and  the  answer  is  "  noo."  Now,  if 
"  new  "  is  "  noo, "  "  few  "  is  "  foo."  It  is  said  that  there  is 
no  reasoning  by  analogy  in  the  English  language,  but  here 
both  analogy  and  authority  concur.  It  is  few  (fu)  and  new 
(nu),  not  fa  and  nu. 

But  if  we  quailed  before  Mr.  Gaertse's  name,  we  surren- 
dered at  discretion  to  his  unremitting  attention  to  our  com- 
fort and  pleasure.  We  had  the  privilege  of  visiting  his 
handsome  house,  and  enjoying  a  home  scene,  which  brought 
up  cheerful  recollections,  shining  softly  through  the  mists  of 
afflictive  memories.  At  dinner  we  became  acquainted  with 
a  variety  of  Spanish  dishes,  provided  expressly  for  our  infor- 
mation. The  predominant  garlic  brought  to  mind  travels  in 
Spain,  the  Alhambra,  thick-skinned  cork-trees,  the  jangling 
equipment  of  Andalusian  mules,  the  tinkling  castanets  of 
Seville,  the  velvet  jacket  of  the  muleteer,  the  student's  man- 
dolin, and  the  banderilla  waving  before  an  infuriated  bull  in 
the  lists  at  a  gay  Toledo  Fiesta.  That  garlic  stood  by  like 
a  stanch  friend.  It  never  quit  us  once  during  the  evening, 
and  it  came  aboard  the  yacht  and  stayed  all  night. 


CURArOA.  265 

Garlic  was  the  grim  chamberlain 

That  went  with  us  to  bed. 
And  drew  our  midni;4ht  curtains  round 

With  fingers  perfumed. 

Some  one  said  that  there  ought  to  be  a  soiipcoji  of  garlic 
in  the  cooking  of  certain  dishes.  Agreed  ;  but  let  it  remain 
a  suspicion  ;   don't  make  it  a  certainty. 

The  dinner  was  excellent,  well-served,  and  copiousl)-  con- 
comitantiated  (what  would  Richard  Grant  White  say  to  that 
for  a  new  word  ?)  with  fluids  of  choice  bouquet,  which  could 
not,  however,  entirely  overcome  the  aprls-gout  of  the  garlic. 
Mrs.  Gaertse,  our  charming  hostess,  is  a  native  of  Texas,  the 
daughter  of  General  Thomas  J.  Green,  of  the  Confederate 
Army,  and  the  only  American  lady  resident  in  Curacoa.  She 
was  educated  at  the  Convent  of  Mount  St.  Vincent,  and  as  I 
happened  to  know  some  of  her  schoolmates,  she  greatly  en- 
joyed the  rare  opportunity  afforded  of  talking  over  early 
home  associations.  We  sat  out,  on  the  tesselated  pavement, 
under  the  portico,  after  dinner,  with  cigar  and  cognac,  while 
Mr.  Gaertse,  who  is  an  accomplished  musician,  pkiyed  operatic 
airs  and  some  of  his  own  compositions  on  the  piano.  His  is 
a  pleasant  home-life  ;  but,  as  he  says,  there  is  none  other  in 
Curacoa.  There  are  no  amusements,  save  occasional  social 
entertainments  ;  no  operas,  concerts,  plays,  political  meetings, 
temperance  revivals,  or'  roller-skating,  except  when  some 
strolling  company  eddies  this  way. 

After  all,  are  they  not  happier,  tmvexed  by  the  worryings 
and  excesses  of  fashionable  life.  They  make  home  a  sanctti- 
ary.  Mr.  Gaertse  enjoys  the  advantage  of  having  a  large 
stock  of  relatives  to  draw  from  for  family  reunions.  He  was 
born  in  Curacoa,  and  so  was  his  father,  and  the  famil)'  con- 
nection amounts  to  over  two  hundred  souls.  I  said  it  was  all 
very  well,  but  I  could  beat  that  record  badly.     He  struck  me 


266  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MOI\TAUK. 

on  my  strong  point,  genealogy.  I  could  figure  up,  direct 
and  collateral,  according  to  my  comprehensive  method — but 
never  mind  !  I  won't  go  into  details  ;  but  if  all  my  relations 
would  vote  for  me  I  might  be  elected  Charity  Commissioner. 
The  father  of  our  host,  a  bluff,  stalwart,  retired  skipper,  twice 
made  the  voyage  to  Holland,  in  a  schooner  of  eighty-five  tons 
burden,  without  a  chronometer  ;  once  in  forty,  and  once  in 
thirty-six  days. 

We  saw  a  curiosity  here  in  a  feathered  watch-dog,  a 
speckled  bird  with  a  long  bill,  resembling  the  heron  species, 
called  a  Dara,  which  sets  up  a  tremendous  clatter  when  a 
stranger  enters  the  premises.  It  is  a  faithful  guardian,  making 
a  shrill  noise,  something  like  that  of  a  turkey-gobbler.  Mr. 
Gaertse,  with  his  consonants  Dutch-softened,  said  it  had  a 
very  Blaintive  cry. 

In  discussing  domestic  matters,  suggested  by  the  skill  of 
the  cook  who  prepared  our  fine  dinner,  we  learned  that  the 
pay  of  a  first-class  cook  is  four  dollars  a  month,  and  that 
ordinary,  capable  house-servants  receive  two  dollars.  The 
wages  of  a  master  carpenter  or  mason  is  sixty  cents  a  day, 
the  journeyman  receives  forty.  The  competent  architect  who 
designed,  and  superintended  the  erection  of,  Mr.  Gaertse's 
house  was  liberally  paid  a  dollar  a  day.  The  laborers  in  the 
salt-vats  receive  twelve  cents  a  day,  and  a  small  ration  of 
Indian  corn- meal,  imported  from  the  United  States,  the  com- 
mon food  of  the  poor.  This,  too,  despite  the  fact  that  they 
are  liable  to  become  blind  by  continuous  working  in  the 
dazzling  white  salt.  But  the  cost  of  living  is  proportionately 
cheap.  There  is  a  savings  bank  here,  but  the  deposits  must 
be  very  small. 

A  large  share  of  the  female  population  appears  to  be  en- 
gaged in  plaiting  straw-hats,  of  every  variety  and  degree  of 
value,  from  the  fine,  expensive  Panama,  to  the  coarse  straw 


CURA^OA.  267 

sold  for  a  few  cents.  Thousands  of  women  arc  to  be  seen. 
seated  at  windows,  in  doorways,  and  alon<j^  the  streets,  with 
fingers  busily  occupied  in  this  work.  Nor  arc  all  those  so 
employed  visible  ;  there  is  a  hidden  force  of  women  making 
hats  in  the  seclusion  of  their  homes,  and  disposing  furtively 
of  the  products  of  their  labor.  They  do  not  wish  to  have  it 
known  that  they  earn  something  for  themselves,  regarding 
female  employment  for  pay  in  the  same  demeaning  light  that 
it  is  viewed  in  our  own  aristocratic  land.  This  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  fashion  of  wearing  long  finger-nails, 
which  largely  obtains  among  the  women.  Of  course  the 
patrician  long  nail  would  prevent  the  finger  from  being  used 
in  plebeian  straw-plaiting,  hence  there  could  be  no  suspicion 
of  the  possessor  working  surreptitiously.  The  straw  for  the 
Panama  is  brought  over  from  the  South  American  coast,  in- 
deed nearly  all  the  material,  except  for  the  very  cheapest,  is 
imported.  I  bought  a  handsome  hat  for  one-sixth  of  what 
it  would  cost  in  New  York.  The  women  all  appear  to  be 
busy  ;  the  men  seem  willing  to  let  them. 

No  horses  are  to  be  hired,  and  we  were  indebted  for  the 
use  of  the  best  pair  on  the  island  to  Captain  Smith,  who  took 
us  for  a  drive  to  the  country-seat  of  their  owner,  the  Instate 
Grosira,  a  place  having  the  characteristics  of  Pompeii  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  house.  The  pavement  of  the  caviCiUniii 
is  mosaic,  of  coral  shells,  the  atrinui  is  similar,  and  the  only 
difference  is  in  the  pcjictralia,  of  modern  appearance.  We 
saw  some  curious  masonry  on  the  grounds,  a  large  unfinished 
bath,  of  solid  construction,  after  the  Roman  st\le,  the  pro- 
jector of  which  is  unknown.  The  wells  are  like  those  seen  in 
Palestine.  The  figure  of  Rebecca  would  have  been  entirely 
in  keeping,  but  she  wasn't  there  :  Dinah  was.  (^ur  guide 
told  us  that  there  were  no  snakes  in  Curacoa,  but  as  he  was 
speaking  I  observed  one  crawling  in  the  grass  through  which 


268  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

we  were  walking.  It  was  a  mite  of  a  thing,  not  over  two 
inches  long,  and  I  suggested,  from  its  color,  that  it  might  be 
a  young  coral  snake,  but  the  Captain  said  that  there  were  no 
venomous  serpents  here,  and  the  bite  of  the  coral  snake  is 
deadly.  He  put  his  foot  on  the  reptile  and  broke  it  in  two, 
when  both  parts  wriggled  off  in  different  directions.  There 
was  a  split  in  the  party,  each  probably  claiming  to  be  regular. 

Though  the  island  is  deficient  in  the  matter  of  snakes,  it 
makes  up  in  scorpions,  tarantulas,  and  centipedes.  Captain 
Smith  told  us  of  an  occurrence  which  was  highly  interesting 
to  the  participants  for  a  few  minutes.  Entering  his  house 
one  afternoon,  his  wife,  recently  arrived  from  the  North,  said 
to  him  that  she  thought  she  felt  something  on  her  back,  and 
asked  him  to  see  if  there  was  anything  there,  and  if  there  was 
to  remove  it.  She  had  on  a  light  peignoir.  Approaching, 
he  found  that  the  "something"  was  an  immense  centipede. 
Now  this  reptile  will  not  bite  unless  it  is  touched,  and  the 
problem  with  the  Captain  was  how  to  remove  it  without  ex- 
citing it  to  inflict  its  poisonous  wound.  He  was  afraid  to  in- 
form his  wife  of  its  character,  for  in  her  terror  she  might  make 
some  motion  that  would  produce  the  dreaded  action,  so,  ap- 
parently careless  in  her  view,  he  suddenly  seized  the  reptile 
and  covering  cloth  in  his  grasp,  tore  the  peignoir  from  his 
wife's  shoulders,  and  cast  it  on  the  ground.  This  centipede 
was  the  largest  he  had  ever  seen.  It  was  probably  lurking  in 
the  garment  when  his  wife  put  it  on.  Centipedes  do  not  take 
kindly  to  interviews.  They  are  like  defeated  candidates  for 
office,  interrogated  as  to  the  causes  of  disaster. 

The  road  through  which  we  drove  was  most  unattractive, 
level,  smooth,  and  well-kept,  but  dusty,  and  bordered  by  un- 
sightly cactus- trees,  which  are  employed  as  division-fences  and 
hedges.  They  give  a  dreary  look  to  the  highway,  with  its 
jagged  roadsides  and  sterile  paths.     These  trees  can  be  used 


CURArOA.  269 

for  no  other  purpose,  the  outer  rim  of  wood  cannot  be  worked, 
the  pith  will  not  burn,  and  the  only  merit  1  liave  heard 
claimed  for  it  (which  I  forgot  to  mention  in  my  last  letter)  is 
that  it  makes  a  cooling  embrocation  in  cases  of  fe\'er.  .\s 
there  are  many  thousands  of  trees,  with  several  gallons  of 
febrifuge  to  a  tree,  and  but  few  cases  of  fever,  the  supply 
largely  exceeds  the  demand,  and  the  cactus  cannot,  there- 
fore, be  regarded  as  a  valuable  crop.  In  comparison,  the 
Canada  thistle  is  Hyperion  to  a  satyr,  for  donkeys  can  eat  it, 
\vhile  it  isn't  customary  for  the  average  donkey  to  go  around 
with  a  portable  forge  to  blow  up  a  fire  to  simmer  down  cac- 
tus-juice into  anti-febrile  infusions.  Then  bees  can  sip  sweets 
from  the  thistle  blossom,  and  convert  them  into  honey  for 
Arabella  Jane's  luncheon  ;  likewise,  out  of  this  nettle,  danger, 
we  pluck  this  flower,  safety  ;  it  gives  us,  too,  a  handy  quota- 
tion, "  Nemo  VIC iniptine  laccssit  "  (used  in  some  psoric  connec- 
tion)— in  fine,  the  thistle  lays  over  the  cactus  by  a  large  ma- 
jority. Some  varieties  of  cacti,  not  trees,  but  plants  and 
shrubs,  produce  gorgeous  flowers,  the  grandijloya  for  ex- 
ample. The  aloe  is  of  this  family.  Cochineal  insects  were 
formerly  to  be  found  on  the  leaves  of  some  of  these,  but  of 
late  years  they  have  dropped  off,  like  Republican  majorities 
since  the  war.  The  common  cactus-tree,  which  fringes  the 
roadway  with  abundant  deformity,  grows  rapidly,  without  a 
root,  a  slip  planted  in  the  ground  soon  enlarging  to  a  tree, 
holding  on  like  a  country  cousin  come  to  pay  a  short  \isit. 

We  took  a  drive^  into  the  rural  districts  earl)'  in  the  morn- 
ing (as  is  the  custom  here,  to  avoid  the  lieat  of  midday)  with 
Mr.  Dc  Lima,  some  members  of  his  family,  and  a  part}-  ot 
friends  ;  visiting  the  estate  of  Mr.  Jeudah  Senior,  called 
Zuikertuintzc.  (I  wouldn't  advise  anybod}'  to  attempt  to 
call  it  without  holding  a  very  strong  hand.)  W'e  spent  some 
hours  in  his  orchard,  a  large  plantation  of  fruit-trees,  mango, 


270  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

sapadilla,  sweet-tamarind,  and  grape-fruit,  but  a  melancholy 
place.  There  was  no  lively  freshness  about  it,  such  as  one 
finds  in  our  verdant  orchards,  where  the  vivacious  leaves 
seem  to  be  full  of  willing  life  and  animation.  Here  the  trees 
have  the  appearance  of  languid  indifference,  seeming  to  grow 
in  lethargic  fruition,  as  if  they  complied  reluctantly  with  an 
enforced  exertion,  a  sort  of  slavery  of  effort,  in  which  they 
take  no  interest,  and  only  bear  their  burden  under  compul- 
sion. The  dry,  crackling  turf  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the 
elastic,  moist  sward  which  spreads  in  velvet  carpeting  under 
our  fruit-trees  at  home,  grateful  to  the  eye,  springing  respon- 
sive to  the  foot.  A  picnic  would  be  out  of  place  in  this 
parched  fruit  grove. 

I  observed  overhead  some  dark  clouds  which,  to  my  un- 
tutored mind,  betokened  rain,  but  one  of  the  gentlemen 
present  said  that  these  deceptive  vapors  came  up  every  day 
for  months  at  a  stretch,  laden  with  rainy  promise,  but  never 
discharging  a  shower.  However,  I  was  not  far  out  of  the 
way  in  my  anticipation.  Before  we  returned  to  the  house, 
four  or  five  drops  of  rain  fell,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  the 
party,  which  I  took  as  a  personal  compliment.  It  was  like 
giving  me  three  cheers.  The  clouds  discovered  a  resident  of 
the  humid  valley  region,  and  sent  down  this  sprinkle  to  salute 
a  visitor  from  juicy  Fort  Schuyler,  where,  in  very  moist 
seasons,  it  rains  occasionally. 

In  Mr.  Senior's  mansion  we  learned  something  about  the 
milk  in  the  cocoa-nut,  the  juice  of  the  green  fruit,  which  we 
drank  for  the  first  time.  I  have  often  heard  the  superiority 
of  this  beverage  vaunted,  but  it  failed  to  strike  us  as  pala- 
table, on  the  contrary  it  was  cloying,  if  not  insipid.  A 
dash  of  schnapps  improved  it  some  ;  but  I  cannot  conscien- 
tiously recommend  it  as  superior  to  milk-punch,  with  "  a 
little   hair "   of  nutmeg   on   the  frothy  crown.     The  Gilsey 


CL'RArOA.  2/1 

House  Aldcrncy,  in  charge  of  Dairyman  lUitlcr,  gives  better 
milk. 

We  returned  from  Mr.  Senior's  Canaan,  laden  with  milk  in 
the  cocoa,  grapes,  and  fruits  of  different  kinds,  t(j  Mr.  De 
Lima's,  where  we  breakfasted.  The  custom  here  is  to  take 
the  meal  at  eleven  o'clock,  after  the  luu'opean,  continental 
fiishion,  the  hrst  repast  being  a  roll  and  cup  of  coffee.  Mr. 
De  Lima's  house,  which  adjoins  the  Cathedral,  is  spacious, 
airy,  and  cheerful,  the  cooling  trade-winds  blowing  into  the 
easterly  exposure  of  his  dining-room  windows  every  da}-  in 
the  year.  It  is  sufficientl)'  capacious  to  accommodate  his 
numerous  and  interesting  family,  which  nearly  filled  the  long 
table,  at  the  head  of  which  he  sat,  like  a  cheerful  patriarch, 
with  a  long  line  of  descendants  on  either  side,  interspersed  on 
this  occasion  with  guests,  who  did  full  justice  to  the  sumptuous 
provision  before  them.  The  breakfast  was  served  in  courses, 
the  first  being  a  sweet  soup,  followed  by  zestful  hung-beef, 
imported  from  Holland.  Then  came  anchovies,  which,  Mr. 
De  Lima  remarked,  were  substituted  for  caviare.  The  Com- 
modore, pushing  them  over  to  me,  said  that  they  were  an 
appropriate  succedaneum — "  caviare  to  the  Genera!."  The 
demoralizing  influence  of  Uncle  John's  facetiousness  is  affect- 
ing everybody.  It  will  reach  me  next,  and  the  first  thing  I 
know  I  shall  be  trying  to  get  olT jokes. 

I  never  sat  down  to  a  more  lavish  breakfast,  for,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  solids,  were  fruits  in  profusion,  wines  of  various 
kinds,  liqueurs,  and  coffee.  It  was  a  full  dcjcuncr-d'uicr. 
Greatly  to  our  regret,  we  were  compelled  to  withdraw  in  the 
middle  of  the  feast,  before  the  tenth  course  had  been  served, 
as  we  had  an  engagement  to  call  upon  the  Governor  at 
noon. 

In  the  evening,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gaertse  and  Mrs,  y'Bara 
dined  with  us  aboard  the  yacht.     Mrs.  y'Bara  is  an  American, 


2/2  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

daughter  of  Judge  Russell,  formerly  United  States  Minister  at 
Caracas,  and  wife  of  General  y'Bara,  who,  in  one  of  the  revo- 
lutions which  Venezuela  gets  up  for  amusement  every  year  or 
so,  was  expatriated,  and  is  now  a  professor  in  a  Boston  college. 
No  doubt  he  will  get  back  in  a  revolution.  They  come  around 
like  the  recurrent  hobby-horses  at  Rockaway  Beach.  We 
had  obtained  the  necessary  permit  from  the  Governor  to  dis- 
play fireworks,  and  after  dinner  we  rowed,  in  the  Commo- 
dore's gig,  up  to  the  lagoon,  and  saluted  the  Dutch  man-of- 
war  with  an  exhibition  of  colored  fires,  repeating  the  display 
in  front  of  the  Governor's  palace.  I  asked  our  fair  exile  if 
she  were  not  afraid  that  she  would  be  taken  for  2.filibiistcra 
getting  up  a  counter-revolution  of  some  kind,  but  she  an- 
swered that  with  the  United  States  flag  over  her  head  she 
was  afraid  of  nothing  ;  a  plucky  response,  but  I  disliked  to 
cool  her  patriotism  by  saying  that  the  stars  and  stripes  af- 
forded slight  protection  to  the  citizen  abroad,  unless  he  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  safe  retreat  of  an  Embassy. 

Yesterday  Governor  Van  den  Brandhof  visited  the  yacht, 
accompanied  by  his  family  and  an  officer  of  his  staff.  They 
all  speak  English  well,  the  Governor  fluently,  and  their  pro- 
longed visit  formed  an  agreeable  episode.  The  Governor  is 
a  man  of  fine  presence  and  courteous  manners,  and  appears 
to  be  highly  esteemed  by  the  inhabitants.  In  appearance  he 
resembles  somewhat  the  late  General  Burnside.  His  estima- 
ble lady,  a  leading  member  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
is  noted  for  her  piety,  and  is  foremost  in  all  good  works.  It 
will  not  be  improper  for  me  to  relate  here  an  incident  of  the 
visit,  which  illustrates  how  manners  and  customs  affect  the 
appearance  of  an  object,  viewed  from  diverse  stand-points,  in 
different  countries.  A  custom  which  is  regarded  as  perfectly 
proper  and  innocent  in  one  land,  becomes  blameful  in  the 
discordant  view  of  another. 


CURArOA.  273 

While  drinking  a  glass  of  wine  with  the  Governor's  party-, 
the  untraveled  American  idea  suggested,  no  wine  to  chil- 
dren; so  Uncle  John,  addressing  the  Governor's  lady,  said  : 
"  Madam,  shall  I  have  the  steward  bring  your  son  some 
lemonade  ?  "  It  didn't  occur  to  him  that  it  would  be  right 
to  offer  wine  to  a  lad  of  twelve  years. 

"  No,  thank  you,"  she  replied,  "  I  think  he  would  prefer 
a  glass  of  wine  ;  he  is  very  fond  of  champagne." 

Think  of  it,  Christian  Mothers  of  America  !  Hold  up 
your  hands  in  horror,  ye  epicene  Crusaders  of  Ohio,  cleaning 
out  the  infidel  salooniers  with  brawny  capra  arms  !  Shrink 
from  the  appalling  spectacle  of  a  fond  mother,  a  devout  mem- 
ber of  an  evangelical  Church,  leading  an  edifying  Christian 
life,  an  exemplar  of  domesticity  and  all  womanly  virtues — 
the  first  lady  in  the  land,  holding  the  poisoned  cup  to  the 
lips  of  her  innocent  young  son,  encouraging  him  to  worship 
the  demon  r-r-r-u-m  by  giving  him  a  glass  of  champagne  ! 
Carry  the  news  to  Lucy  !  Proclaim  it  from  the  housetops  of 
Fremont  :  there  is  a  land  where  everybody  drinks,  and  no- 
body gets  drunk  to  make  business  for  the  reformers !  Dc- 
lenda  est  C2iracoa  ! 

The  heterodox  creed,  which  is  fast  encroaching  on  our 
faith,  and  loosing  the  bonds  that  held  our  forefathers  to  belief 
in  the  Bible,  by  lugging  in  unauthorized  precepts  of  the 
Koran,  finds  no  favor  here.  The  people  believe  viorc  majo- 
rnin.  They  are  astonished  when  told  that  some  Christians, 
with  perverted  ideas,  regard  drinking  wine  a  sin,  and  it  is 
hard  to  make  them  understand  how  Legislatures  can  pass 
laws  to  prohibit  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  spirituous  liquors. 
One  gentleman  remarked  that  these  places  must  be  convict 
colonies  of  drunkards,  where  such  prohibitive  enactments 
were  punitive  laws.  He  couldn't  understand  why  he  should 
be  deprived  of  his  right  to  take  a  glass  of  v.inc  because  some- 
iS 


274  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

body  else  made  criminal  use  of  an  innocent  instrument.  But 
they  are  greatly  behind  the  age,  in  slow,  simple,  honest, 
virtuous,  religious  Curagoa.  They  ought  to  come  to  the 
United  States  to  find  out  what  is  true  morality  in  business 
and  politics  ;  to  see  our  honesty  in  religion,  legislation,  bank- 
ing, and  commerce,  and  admire  our  scrupulous  virtue  in 
social  life. 

The  religion  of  the  blacks,  as  I  have  said  before,  is  Cath- 
olic, of  the  whites,  mainly  Dutch  Reformed,  with  some  Lu- 
therans. The  Dutch  Reformed  is  the  established  Church,  and, 
as  they  founded  it,  I  assume  that  the  Dutch  understand  their 
own  doctrines.  There  is  some  doubt  of  their  knowledge, 
however,  growing  out  of  the  belief  that  obtains  in  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  with  us.  The  Governor  is  the  magnate  of 
the  Church  here.  He  represents  the  Netherlands,  where  it 
originated  ;  he  occupies  the  biggest  pew  in  the  meeting- 
house, and  is  regarded  as  the  member  in  the  highest  standing. 
If  he  is  not  orthodox,  where  can  an  exponent  of  the  true  faith 
be  found  ?  The  Governor  gives  his  receptions  Sunday  nights, 
at  which  they  have  wine,  cards,  and  dancing.  Think  of  an 
elder  in  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  New  York  opening  a 
small  game  after  Sunday  evening  service  !  that  is,  unless  he 
did  it  under  the  rose,  and  nobody  knew  it  but  he  and  his 
pals,  who  wouldn't  give  it  away  to  the  deacons. 

In  connection  with  this  question,  the  thought  occurs  : 
does  the  Omniscient  eye  wink  charitably  at  the  tergiversa- 
tions of  Cura^oa,  while  keeping  a  sharp  lookout  over  less- 
favored  America,  held  to  strict  accountability.  Possibly  the 
Dutchmen  who  invented  the  Reformed  Church  and  formu- 
lated its  belief,  don't  know  what  their  own  faith  is,  as  well 
as  the  Americans,  who  bought  a  piece  of  it  second-hand. 
Strange  how  climatic  influences  affect  religion  !  In  fervid 
Cura^oa,  of  a  Sunday  evening,  the   pious  Dutch    Reformer 


CURArOA.  275 

smokes  his  meerschaum  pipe,  and  sips  the  fiery  after-dinner 
cordial,  in  full  view  of  passing  Christians,  and  then  goes  in  to 
play  a  game  of  sixty-six  with  his  wife  and  children  before  re- 
tiring to  kneel  at  his  nightly  pra)'ers  ;  while  in  frigid  Utica, 
if  the  church-member  should  indulge  in  these  heathenish 
practices,  his  name  would  be  marked  Anathema,  Maranatha, 
in  the  next  list  of  that  particular  body  of  the  elect,  printed  at 
the  Herald  job-office.  The  few  operas  and  pla}-s  that  drift 
this  way  are  given  Sunday  ;  it  is  the  great  day  for  dinners, 
parties,  and  balls  ;  it  is  the  day  of  worship,  rest,  and  recre- 
ation. 

But  let  us  haste  from  the  contemplation  of  this  wicked- 
ness, which  must  fill  with  anguish  the  sensitive  Christian  soul, 
already  tormented  with  doubting  efforts  to  bolt  Jonah  and 
the  whale,  seasoned  with  Lot's  wife.  I  ask  pardon  for  pre- 
senting the  repulsive  picture  here,  but  I  must  portray  faith- 
fully what  I  have  seen,  even  at  the  risk  of  shocking  true  piety 
with  a  view  of  this  lamentable  stubborn  adherence,  by  the 
Curacoans,  to  the  religious  principles  of  the  original  Protes- 
tant Reformers,  as  displayed  in  the  personal  habits  of  Luther 
and  Melancthon,  without  the  modern  improvements  of  Fran- 
cis Murphy.  But  while  I  submit  to  public  opinion,  which 
elevates  the  horn  of  the  apostolical  revivalist,  I  enter  a  pro- 
test against  the  abominable  misuse  of  the  word  evangelist  in 
our  newspapers.  The  Evangelists  are  the  inspired  writers 
of  the  four  Gospels,  I\Latthew,  ALark,  Luke,  and  John.  It 
was  regarded  as  an  oath  of  especial  solemnity  to  swear  b\the 
holy  evangelists.  Now  ever}'  blathering  fellow  who  gets  up 
revivals,  and  talks  ungrammatically  to  the  gaping  multitude, 
is  styled  an  evangelist.  Imagine  a  man  taking  an  oath,  which 
he  desires  to  be  peculiarly  impressive,  on  the  blessed  evangel- 
ists— Moody  and  Sankey. 

These  phlegmatic  islanders,  clinging  to  their  simple  faith 


2/6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

and  moss-grown  traditions,  fail  to  appreciate  the  modern 
evolvement,  that  truth,  which  appears  to  them  immutable, 
may  be  changed  by  new  inventions  and  reforms,  as  the  world 
progresses,  and  that  Divine  revelation  ought  to  be  subjected 
to  the  patent-laws,  like  reapers  and  mowers,  sewing-machines 
and  telephones. 

There  are  many  handsome  mulattoes  in  Curacoa,  and  the 
negroes  are  better-looking  than  any  we  have  seen,  except  at 
Martinique.  The  women  wear  the  same  long,  trailing  gar- 
ments, and  shuffle  along  with  their  shoes  down  at  the  heel — 
when  they  wear  shoes.  The  dainty  feet,  bicn-ckausscs,  which 
glance  through  the  streets  of  Martinique,  are  not  to  be  seen. 
But  there  are  here  few  of  the  Creoles,  so  numerous  in  the 
French  island,  and  so  hard  to  distinguish  from  the  natives  of 
diluted  negro  blood.  Small  children  are  dressed  comfortably 
according  to  the  weather.  Some  of  the  little  ones  are  cos- 
tumed in  undressed  Curagoa  "  kid  "  skin,  and  nothing  more. 
We  saw  a  small  chap,  proudly  arrayed  solely  in  a  pair  of 
shoes,  which  he  wore  with  a  conscious  sense  of  extraordinary 
magnificence  of  apparel.  Out  driving  in  the  suburbs,  the 
other  day,  we  came  across  a  festive  young  darky,  clothed  in 
a  bestrided  broomstick,  who  forged  up  to  the  side  of  the 
carriage,  and  raced  with  us  some  distance  ;  prancing  gayly 
along,  a  juvenile  Knight  Desnudo,  in  sable  armor,  with  his 
broomstick  lance  in  rest,  tilting  through  the  dusty  lists. 
Ladies  seem  to  be  utterly  indifferent  to  this  sparseness  of 
clothing  so  novel  to  us.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  habit.  I  learned 
in  Paris  how  American  ladies  can  become  familiarized  with 
sights,  which  would  shock  them  at  home  but  fail  to  attract 
attention  there.  The  al  fresco  style  is  more  fashionable  in 
the  country  districts  than  in  town.  The  young  ones  crawl 
out  of  the  rural  huts  like  black  ants  from  a  hill.  This  sim- 
plicity of  attire  saves  mothers  the  trouble  of  calling  in  their 


CURArOA.  277 

children  two  or  three  times  a  day,  to  be  washed,  dressed,  and 
spanked  for  getting  the  bib  and  tucker  dirt}-,  according  to 
our  unhealthy  custom.  Children  ought  to  be  permitted  to 
roll  around  in  the  open  air,  even  if  they  do  soil  their  clothing. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  health-sustenance  in  mud-pies. 

Everybody  seems  to  be  selling  something  in  Curacoa,  and 
the  mystery  is,  with  all  sellers,  where  do  the  buyers  come  in. 
One  will  see  in  the  outskirts  a  board  stuck  out  with  three  or 
four  mangoes  or  half  a  dozen  oranges  for  sale,  and  in  town, 
the  doorways  are  used  for  benches  to  display  trifling  articles. 
Perhaps  they  exchange  with  each  other  and  do  a  barter  busi- 
ness, or  deal  in  "  futures,"  without  a  delivery. 

The  dock  at  which  we  are  moored  presents  a  constantly- 
changing  assortment  of  sight-seers,  the  small  boy  being  in 
the  majority  as  usual.  We  bought  from  the  crowd  of  peripa- 
tetic merchants  some  straw-hats  and  troupials,  birds  peculiar 
to  the  tropics,  of  brilliant  plumage,  something  like  the  Balti- 
more oriole,  and  sweet  singers.  There  was  no  temptation  in 
the  cigars  at  ninety  cents  a  hundred,  though  they  were  im- 
ported. Black  Jenny,  dealer  in  birds,  and  brokeress  in  gen- 
eral merchandise,  is  a  well-known  character,  and  is  spoken 
of  by  all  as  honest  and  reliable.  Jenny  has  a  knack  of  mak- 
ing herself  useful.  The  steward  being  absent  when  some 
visitors  came  aboard,  she  appointed  herself  brevet- stewardess, 
without  asking  for  confirmation,  took  charge  of  the  pantry, 
and  managed  things  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner.  Jenny 
is  a  jewel — a  black  diamond.  She  is  a  judge  of  character. 
She  picked  out  Uncle  John  as  a  good  man. 

It  is  a  motley  assemblage  on  the  dock,  affording  us  much 
amusement  in  watching  its  shifting  character  and  peculiari- 
ties. The  variety  of  costume  is  remarkable.  We  longed  for 
a  photograph  of  one  diminutive  urchin,  who  stood  two  hours 
in  the  broiling  sun,  gazing  entranced  at  the   yacht.     He  was 


278  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

fragmentarily  clad,  en  ciierpo  de  caniisa,  a  hole,  with  a  few 
straws  braided  around  it,  partially  covered  his  head,  on  which 
rested  a  cigar-box,  while  under  his  arm  was  carried  an  empty 
bottle.  He  stood  firm  and  immovable,  not  changing  his 
position,  nor  joining  in  the  clamor  of  the  other  boys,  who 
played  all  sorts  of  pranks.  He  may  have  been  posing  for  a 
statue  representing  the  Genius  of  Curagoa.  Uncle  John  ad- 
dressed him,  in  Dutch,  interrogatively,  Zzvei-lager  !  but  he 
made  no  response,  maintaining  strictly  his  wide-mouthed  im- 
perturbability. At  length  Uncle  John  nodded  significantly 
to  him,  and  went  below,  saying,  as  his  head  sank  in  the  com- 
panion-way, something  that  sounded  like  "  soon  tight."  He 
soon  reappeared  on  deck,  wiping  his  lips,  and,  as  he  surveyed 
the  bare  legs  of  the  boy,  hummed  : 

"  Le  bo 71  roy  Dagobert 
Avait  mis  sa  ctilotte  a  Venvers." 

Hardly  were  the  words  out  of  his  mouth,  when  the  as- 
sembled ragtag-and-bobtail  chorused  out,  as  if  by  preconcert, 
"  Onkel  Jan  ;  Jeem  peel  !  "  Either  a  job  had  been  put  up 
on  the  Domino  King  during  his  absence  below  ;  or  James' 
pills  have  become  so  popular  in  the  West  Indies,  through  his 
advertising,  that  children  cry  for  them. 

Cura^oa  would  be  a  paradise  for  our  volunteer  building 
committees,  which  meet  on  the  sidewalks  and  sagely  super- 
intend, with  unheeded  suggestion,  the  erection  of  new  build- 
ings. If  the  men  who  gather  around  fallen  horses  in  the 
street,  and  offer  advice  about  buckles  and  straps,  would  come 
here,  they  would  feel  at  home.  No,  there  would  be  nothing 
for  them  to  do.  Horses  don't  fall  down  ;  it  is  too  much 
trouble  to  get  up  again.  If  anybody  ever  died  any  but  a 
natural  death,  what  a  place  it  would  be  for  the  chronic  coro- 
ner's juror ! 


CURArOA.  279 

Curacjoa  was  discovered,  in  1499,  by  Alonzo  do  Ojeda, 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  daring  of  the  adventurers  who 
sailed  with  Columbus  on  his  second  voyage.  Amcricus  Ves- 
pucius,  who  accompanied  him,  described  the  inhabitants  as 
ignorant,  but,  at  the  same  time,  good-tempered  and  peaceable, 
though  brutal  in  countenance  and  gestures — "  la  mas  bestial  c 
ignorantc,  pcro  inisino  ticnipo  la  mas  bcnigna  y  pacifica  dc 
todas.  They  fill  their  mouths  to  overflowing  with  certain 
green  herbs,  which  they  chew  like  animals,  and  can  hardly 
articulate  words."  By  this  he  probably  intended  to  describe 
the  habit  of  chewing  tobacco,  which  is  American  in  our  da\s, 
and  may  have  taken  its  name,  like  the  continent,  from  Amcri- 
cus, who  discovered  it.  He  says  further,  "hanging  around 
their  necks  are  necklaces,  and  they  wear  ear-rings."  He  de- 
scribes Curagoa  as  an  island  of  giants  on  account  of  the  extra- 
ordinary size  of  the  inhabitants.  This  was  an  exaggeration, 
his  mind  having  been  filled  with  fabulous  accounts  of  the 
Carib  cannibals.  There  may  have  been  giants  in  those  days, 
but  there  are  none  here  now.  He  also  represents  them  as 
great  fishermen  and  notes  abundance  offish. 

Owing  to  the  unrelenting  hostility  of  the  natives,  Ojeda's 
efforts  to  colonize  proved  ineffectual.  He  devoted  himself  to 
the  establishment  of  a  colony  on  the  mainland,  called  by 
the  natives  Coquibacoa,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Vene- 
zuela (little  Venice)  from  the  appearance  of  the  houses  of  a 
village  erected  on  piles  in  the  Gulf. 

Ojeda  was  an  intrepid  soldier,  his  v\alor  often  reaching  the 
extent  of  recklessness.  The  stratagem  by  which  he  captured 
the  powerful  cacique  Caonoba — by  inducing  him  to  put  on  a 
pair  of  polished  manacles,  representing  them  to  be  emblems 
of  royal  authority  which  came  from  the  skies,  then  prevailing 
on  him  to  mount  behind  him  on  his  horse,  when  he  rode 
away  with   his  prisoner — illustrates,  at  once,  the  hardihood 


2So  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

and  the  treachery  of  the  Spaniard  in  deaHng  with  the  Indian. 
Caonoba  died  a  prisoner,  intractable  to  the  last  ;  a  noble  ex- 
ample of  the  fierce  heroism  of  the  proud  Carib  chieftain. 
Ojeda's  own  career  ended  in  poverty,  humiliation,  and  neg- 
lect. He  died  so  poor  that  he  did  not  leave  money  enough 
to  pay  for  his  interment,  and  his  last  request  was  that  his  body 
might  be  buried  at  the  portal  of  the  Convent  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, in  expiation  of  his  past  pride,  so  that  every  one  who 
entered  might  tread  upon  his  grave. 

The  conduct  of  Ojeda's  companion,  the  bloodthirsty  Gon- 
zalvo  de  Ocampo,  who  oppressed  Curagoa  with  barbarous 
severity,  was  stained  with  the  greatest  atrocities.  He  even 
wanted  to  extirpate  the  Indians.  As  it  was,  they  were  re- 
duced to  slavery  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross.  As  Olmeda 
said  :  "Si  es  vcrdad  que  nos  qititaron  libertad,  en  cambio 
die'ronnos  religion!'  How  many  outrages  have  been  com- 
mitted in  the  name  of  Christianity  ! 

The  Emperor  Charles  V.  condemned  the  inhabitants  of 
Curacoa  to  slavery,  as  rebels  against  Spanish  rule.  The 
abdication  of  Charles  V.,  and  accession  of  his  son,  Philip  II.; 
the  career  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Low  Countries  ;  the 
patriotism  of  the  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn  ;  and  the  hostili- 
ties which  were  terminated  by  the  Peace  of  Munster,  in  1648, 
by  which  Curacoa  was  ceded  to  Holland,  are  all  matters  of 
history.  Curacoa  suffered  severely  during  the  war  between 
France  and  Holland,  in  1672.  She  was  prosperous  during 
our  Revolutionary  War,  when  her  situation  as  a  neutral  port 
gave  her  commercial  importance.  During  the  French  Revo- 
lution, the  slaves  rose  in  insurrection,  fomented  by  the  ex- 
ample of  the  insurgents  in  Hayti,  but  the  uprising  was 
speedily  suppressed.  During  the  general  European  war,  in 
1799,  an  English  protectorate  was  established,  as  a  prudential 
defensive  measure.      When    Holland  desired  the  restoration 


CURAgOA.  281 

of  her  ascendancy  in  the  island,  England  demurred.  In 
1804,  the  English  occupied  Otrabanda,  destroyed  the  Lutheran 
churcii  there,  and  bombarded  Willemstad.  The  island  was 
unprosperous  under  English  rule.  After  much  negotiation, 
Cura(joa  was  finally  ceded  to  Holland,  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris, 
in  181 5  ;  the  English  sailed  for  Jamaica,  and  the  Dutch  took 
formal  possession,  the  following  year.  It  seems  that  this 
rocky  little  island  was  a  great  bone  of  contention  to  warlike 
powers  before  the  final  cession  to  Holland.  Simon  Bolivar, 
the  Liberator,  resided  here  while  he  conducted  his  revolu- 
tionary operations  for  the  liberation  of  South  America. 

This  is  an  affectionate,  hospitable  community,  where 
wants  are  few  and  easily  supplied  ;  where  there  are  no  mis- 
leading daily  newspapers,  no  inquisitive  telephone,  no  Good 
Templars  ;  where  the  hypocrite  appears  not,  and  the  dema- 
gogue dare  not  show  his  face  ;  where  there  arc  no  subscrip- 
tion-papers for  political  banners — where  placid,  blameless 
lives  flow  gently  to  unostentatious  graves.  It  is  a  near  ap- 
proach to  Arcadian  simplicity.  The  possession  of  forty 
thousand  dollars  makes  one  a  very  rich  man  !  It  is  no  place 
for  dentists.  The  richest  in  the  land  couldn't  afford  to  have 
a  tooth  filled.  Hence  the  teeth  are  good.  Happy  Curacoa  ! 
Et  mol  aussi  ;  fai  etc  en  Arcadic. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 
RELIGIOUS   SERVICES. 

Bird  and  Beast — Pretty  Pets — Misty  Fancies — A  Cruel  Wrong — Palm 
Sunday — The  Thrilling  Sea — Church  Service — Ave  Sanctissima — 
Prayer — The  Sailor's  Yarn — Resurgam. 

On  Board  Montauk,  at  Sea,  Lat.  i6°i2',  Lon.  74"'24'. 
We  left  the  harbor  of  Curagoa  on  the  morning  of  April  5th, 
with  the  harbor-master,  Mr.  Van  Osnabergen,  Captain  Smith, 
and  Mr.  Gaertse  aboard  ;  saluting  the  Dutch  flag  on  the  fort 
with  colors  as  we  passed  out,  having  decided  not  to  stay  in 
Curagoa  any  longer.  After  a  short  sail,  for  the  gratification 
of  our  guests,  we  put  about  and,  leaving  the  gentlemen  at  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor,  turned  our  prow  westward.  A  fresh 
employment  to  occupy  the  time  presented  itself,  in  the  pas- 
sengers shipped,  three  troopials,  a  parrot,  and  a  monkey.  The 
delicate  troopials  belong  in  the  saloon,  and,  being  intended 
for  presentation  to  some  children  at  home,  are  the  objects  of 
much  solicitude;  Uncle  John  and  I  devoting  ourselves  to  their 
care  with  as  much  anxious  assiduity  as  if  they  were  them- 
selves the  prospective  pretty  owners,  instead  of  bright-plumed 
objects  of  vicarious  tenderness.  The  plebeian  parrot  belongs 
to  the  steward,  and  the  proletarian  monkey  to  the  sailing- 
master  ;  and  both  find  their  appropriate  resting-place  in  the 
forecastle  ;  but  all  come  on  deck  in  the  sunshine,  with  demo- 
cratic obliteration  of  caste  distinction,  where  the  clear  whistle 
of  the  troopial,  the  harsh  talking  of  the  solemn  parrot,  and 


RELIGIOUS   SERVICES.  283 

the  gibbering  of  the  tricksy  monkey,  mingle  like  the  various- 
priced  applause  of  box,  pit,  and  gallery  in  a  theatre.  The 
parrot  is  a  bird  of  attainments,  a  linguist ;  he  speaks  Spanish. 
The  monkey  is  a  ridiculous  little  animal,  a  marmoset,  named 
by  the  sailing-master  "  Eddie,"  on  account  of  his  fancied  re- 
semblance to  some  politician.  To  see  Uncle  John  and  I 
hostlering  the  troopials  in  the  morning,  giving  them  their 
breakfast  before  our  own  preliminary  coffee  is  swallowed,  is 
suggestive  to  the  Commodore  of  Poll  Sweedlepipes,  with  his 
bullfinch  drawing  rations  from  the  miniature  well.  Indeed  he 
has  begun  to  call  Uncle  John  "  Poll,"  and  I  suppose  I  would 
be  addressed  as  Young  Bailey,  if  I  measured  less  around  the 
waist,  and  could  wear  becomingly  a  short  jacket  with  bell- 
buttons.  I  was  afraid  he  would  call  us  Sairey  Gamp  and 
Betsy  Prigg,  but  the  bird-nurse  idea  didn't  occur  to  him.  He 
would  if  he  had  thought  of  it,  for  he  hesitates  at  nothing,  and 
treats  us  with  jocose  familiarity,  as  if  he  were  one  of  us,  in- 
stead of  being  merely  the  keeper  of  our  boarding-house 
during  this  cruise.  We  don't  mind  his  badinage  about  the 
birds.  One  of  these  days,  when  pets  shall  be  joined  to  pets, 
when  we  deliver  the  troopials — to  which  we  are  a  sort  of 
bird-grandfather  as  it  were — to  their  owners,  we  shall  be 
repaid,  by  pleased  glances  from  bright  eyes,  for  all  the  care 
we  are  taking  of  them.  I  am  trying  to  teach  the  troopials 
some  army-calls,  but  with  indifferent  success  ;  they  are  Span- 
ish birds,  and  cannot  be  made  to  understand  whistling  in 
English.  A  funny  story  is  told  of  the  kind  of  a  time  a  mon- 
key and  a  parrot  had  in  an  amicable  interview  in  a  clergy- 
man's study,  but  no  such  disrobing  has  attended  the  peaceful 
communion  of  our  bird  and  beast  on  deck  ;  which  appear  to 
be  rehearsing  for  the  millennium,  where  the  parrot  and  the 
monkey  shall  lie  down  together.  They  make  no  hostile  dem- 
onstrations, dwelling  in  peace  and  harmony,  eating  out  of 


284  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

the  same  dish  without  greedy  collision.  The  sailing-master 
is  wrong  in  naming  that  monkey.  He  may  resemble  one  in 
countenance,  but  he  hasn't  the  habits  of  a  Brooklyn  politician. 
That  statesman  would  never  divide  with  the  parrot ;  he  would 
grab  all  the  spoils  himself. 

Floating  along  with  the  softly-blowing  trade-winds,  which 
will  continue  until  we  reach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  we  think  of 
our  early  reading  of  the  adventures  of  Columbus  in  these 
seas  ;  of  his  persistence,  his  marvelous  physical  and  moral 
courage  and  sublime  devotion.  We  think  of  his  erroneous 
pursuit  of  the  far  Cathay,  his  search  for  the  terrestrial  para- 
dise ;  his  endeavor  to  reach  the  mystic  regions  that  existed 
only  in  the  dreams  of  scholarly  recluses,  who  spun  theories 
from  the  vague  legends  brought  by  Crusaders  from  the  Holy 
Land,  and  romances  of  travelers  to  the  hazy  dominions  of 
Cubla  Khan.  The  fabled  Atlantis  of  Plato  stretches  out  be- 
fore us,  and  the  imaginary  island  of  the  Irish  saint  uprears  in 
mountainous  magnificence  of  phantasm.  The  traditional 
Island  of  the  Seven  Cities,  with  the  Christian  bishops,  escaped 
from  Moorish  thralldom  in  Spain,  might  welcome  us  if  we 
could  find  it ;  but  while  we  allow  the  imagination  to  dwell 
amid  these  entrancing  fantasies,  we  prudently  let  the  sailing- 
master  guide  the  ship's  course  toward  Kingston,  Jamaica. 

Strange  how  news  floats  about  the  world  in  out-of-the-way 
nooks  and  corners,  where  it  is  borne  by  vagrant  currents,  to 
be  picked  up,  waifs  and  strays  of  intelligence.  While  at 
Cura^oa,  Mr.  Booth  handed  me  a  copy  of  an  Amsterdam 
newspaper,  which  I  glanced  at,  not  expecting  to  see  anything 
of  interest  to  me,  but  the  first  thing  that  met  my  eye  was  an 
editorial  reference  to  the  death  of  Mr.  D.  C.  Grove,  of  the 
Utica  Observer.  I  was  pained  to  learn  of  the  unexpected 
departure  of  this  amiable  and  upright  gentleman. 

I  also  learned,  from  the  same  source,  of  the  passage,  by 


RELIGIOUS   SERVICES.  285 

the  House  of  Representatives,  of  the  act  to  do  justice  to  Gen- 
eral Fitz-John  Porter,  at  which  I  was  greatly  rejoiced,  for 
the  Senate  has  already  taken  favorable  action  in  his  case,  and 
will  certainly  concur  in  this  most  just  measure.  As  I  know 
personally  that  the  President  is  friendly  to  General  Porter,  I 
feel  confident,  for  the  first  time,  that  the  vindication  of  this 
loyal,  chivalrous,  and  gallant  soldier  is  at  hand.  I  have  never 
doubted  his  ultimate  justification,  though  I  knew  that  mean 
and  dishonest  political  partisanship  would  interfere  to  thwart 
the  reparation  due  him  for  long  years  of  unmerited  suffering. 
Unfortunately,  in  our  office-seeking  land,  where  truth  is  cor- 
roded in  the  selfish  engrossment  of  unscrupulous  politics,  and 
justice  yields  to  partisan  expediency,  fair  right  often  goes 
down  before  the  felon  blow  of  mercenary  wrong. 

Yesterday  was  Palm  Sunday.  \Vc  had  no  green  branches 
with  which  to  deck  the  saloon,  and  were  forced  to  be  content 
with  placing  in  the  companion-way  a  spray  of  sweet-lemon 
(beloved  of  the  Curacoan  belle)  as  the  only  available  out- 
ward sign  of  festal  recognition.  These  recurring  anniver- 
saries bring  up  many  scenes  of  early  life,  clothed  in  the  aziu'e 
hue  of  enchanting  distance.  I  recall  the  green  boughs  piled 
before  the  altar,  for  aspergillous  benediction,  and  distribution 
among  the  worshipers  by  white-robed  acolytes,  in  St.  John's 
Church,  long  ago  ;  and  I  can  hear  the  voice  of  Joseph  Ar- 
nott  in  the  recitative,  "  And  a  very  great  multitude  spread 
their  garments  in  the  way  ;  others  cut  down  branches  from 
the  trees  and  strewed  them  in  the  way. — And  the  multitudes 
that  went  before,  and  that  followed,  cried,  saying  (and  here 
the  choir  came  in  with  full  chorus),  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David  :  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lortl  ; 
Hosanna  in  the  highest !  "  Good,  simple-minded,  pure- 
hearted  Joseph  has  been  many  years  singing  that  chorus  (I 
don't  think  thov  would  let  him  take  the  solo — he  didn't  do  it 


286  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

well)  in  the  celestial  choir  whose  strains  reach  no  mortal 
ears  ;  and,  save  one,  all  the  voices  that  joined  with  his  in  the 
exultant  strains  on  Palm  Sunday  morning,  in  that  organ-loft, 
are  heard  there  no  more,  but  are  silenced  forever. 

Aboard  this  yacht,  we  are  no  avowed  professors  of  relig- 
ion, who  wear  pretentious  piety  on  the  sleeve  for  doubting 
daws  to  peck  at,  but,  with  a  firm  faith  in  an  overruling  Prov- 
idence, we  deem  it  proper  to  observe  the  Lord's  Day  with 
becoming  reverence.  It  seems  strange  that  one  can  be  an 
atheist  at  sea.  The  symmetry  of  natural  arrangement,  the 
undeviating  accuracy  of  eccentric  planetary  revolution,  the 
orderly  recurrence  of  the  seasons,  according  to  an  unvarying 
system,  leaving  nothing  to  chance ;  the  unfailing  indications 
which  enable  the  mariner  to  navigate  the  pathless  seas, 
guided  by  the  heavenly  chart,  whose  points  are  marked  by 
an  unerring  hand — all  bear  intrinsic  evidence  of  an  Omnis- 
cient and  Omnipresent  power.  Human  science  has  invented 
instruments  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  decipher  the  Divine 
handwriting.  With  the  sextant  and  chronometer  to  explain 
the  mapped  firmament,  the  navigator  can  ascertain  where  he 
is  sailing  on  the  wide  waters  with  almost  as  much  precision 
as  if  he  were  traveling  on  land.  The  stars  are  the  lights  that 
point  out  his  path  by  night,  and  the  sun's  rays  guide  him  on 
his  course  by  day. 

How  any  one  can  cling  to  the  deck  of  a  vessel  in  a  tem- 
pest, with  the  tremendous  waves  towering  tumultuously, 
threatening  to  overwhelm  ;  the  winds  roaring  as  if  seeking  to 
devour,  with  irresistible  force,  these  poor  atoms  of  matter ; 
and  the  elemental  turmoil  filling  the  mind  with  an  idea  of  the 
awful  grandeur  of  nature,  impressing  by  contrast  the  helpless 
insignificance  of  man's  greatest  power,  without  feeling  the 
august  presence  of  Omnipotence,  is  something  that  I  cannot 
understand. 


RELIGIOUS    SERVICES.  28/ 

We  can  recognize  the  day  set  apart  for  Christian  \vorshi{), 
though  \vc  may  not  be  gathered  within  the  confines  of  a  con- 
secrated temple,  with  stoled  priest  to  offer  sacrifice,  and 
choired  voices  to  sing  the  praises  of  the  Most  High,  with  in- 
cense floating  in  adoring  clouds,  and  all  the  devotional  acces- 
sories to  stimulate  the  payment  of  homage.  These  surround- 
ings should  be  employed  to  the  greatest  extent  possible  in 
Divine  service.  There  is  no  building  too  magnificent,  no 
work  of  genius  in  painting  and  sculpture  too  exalted,  no 
music  too  fine,  for  the  service  of  the  Almighty.  But  these 
adjuncts  are  not  always  within  reach  ;  and  even  the  impres- 
sivencss  of  the  most  imposing  church  ceremonial  (in  which 
spiritual  devotion  is  sometimes  lost  in  distracting  material 
admiration)  cannot  appeal  more  strongly  to  the  religious  sen- 
timent than  do  the  sublimities  of  the  majestic  sea. 

I  remember  some  lines  by  cither  Horace  or  James  Smith, 
authors  of  the  "  Rejected  Addresses,"  which  seem  to  be  pe- 
culiarly applicable  to  the  idea  I  have  attempted  to  convey, 
inadequately,  I  fear,  in  my  own  language. 

"  Not  to  the  domes  where  crumbling  arch  and  column 
Attest  the  feebleness  of  mortal  hand, 
But  to  that  fane,  most  catholic  and  solemn, 
Which  God  halh  planned  ; 

To  that  cathedral,  boundless  as  our  wonder, 

Whose  quenchless  lamps  the  sun  and  moon  supply  ; 

Its  choir  the  winds  and  waves  ;  its  organ  thunder; 
Its  dome  the  sky." 

The  stately  ritual  of  the  Clunxh  of  England  clothes,  in 
dignified  and  appropriate  langtiage,  the  annunciation  of  faith, 
providing  a  common  channel  of  devotion  w  hich   all  ma)'  em- 


288  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MOXTAUK. 

ploy  profitably,  although  some  who  unite  in  the  service  may 
reject  the  tenets,  and  deny  the  authority,  of  the  organization 
that  ritualizes  the  pious  aspirations  of  the  heart.  It  is  the 
custom  with  us  to  have  this  service — according  to  the  Amer- 
ican Episcopal  form — read,  by  either  the  Commodore  or  one 
of  his  guests,  on  Sundays.  The  duty  often  devolves  on  me. 
I  am  but  an  indifferent  reader  at  best,  and  have  had  little  prac- 
tice in  this  particular  kind  of  recitation,  yet  I  manage  to  ac- 
quit myself  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  auditors,  for  this  reason  : 
I  lived  a  long  time  in  the  pleasant  Utica  avenue  where  Trinity 
Church  sits  venerable  under  the  shade  of  ancient  trees,  and 
my  ears  became  acclimated,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  to 
the  sonorous  chants  that  came  hymning  out  through  the 
tinted  windows,  imbuing  with  melody  my  green-leaved  mem- 
ories of  happy  summer  days  in  dear  old  Broad  Street ;  and 
so,  when  I  utter  the  words  of  the  church  service,  the  clinging 
tones  seem  to  blend  with  my  voice  in  echoing  rhythm. 

"  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple  ;  let  all  the  earth  keep 
silence  before  him." 

At  night  we  sit  on  deck,  in  the  jewel  light  of  the  stars  : 

Blue  dome  besprent  with  diamond  dust, 
Bright  gleams  the  path  by  angels  trod, 

Mid  countless  jewels,  rich  incrust. 
Outshines  the  monogram  of  God. 

And  we  sing  for  our  vesper  service,  the  exquisite  song  to 
the  Virgin,  which  touches  the  sensibilities  with  pure  and  re- 
fininsr  influence. 


RELRilOUS   SERVICKS. 


289 


EVENING   SONG   TO   THE    VIRGIN. 


Espressivo. 


t^^^. 


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290 


THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 


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RELIGIOUS   SERVICES. 


291 


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292 


THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 


^liil^^igil 


5E3 


no    -       -    bis,  The  waves    must    rock.,      our      sleep, 


r =;.— • --^r-*— ^^zt*—- * — '-d— -• — -* 


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Star         of       the     deep ' 


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--:i- 


^z^^?  satictissima,  we  lift  our  souls  to  thee, 
Ora  pro  7whis  j  'tis  nightfall  on  the  sea. 
O  thou  whose  virtues  shine 

With  brightest  purity, 
Come,  and  each  thought  refine, 

Till  pure  like  thee. 
Oh,  save  our  souls  from  ill  ; 

Guard  thou  our  lives  from  fear  ; 
Our  hearts  with  pleasure  fill  : 

Sweet  Mother,  sweet  Mother,  hear. 
Ora  pro  nobis  ;  the  waves  must  rock  our  sleep  : 
Ora  Mater  j  ora,  star  of  the  deep. 


RELIGIOUS    SERVICES.  2C,} 

It  is  but  a  faint  and  weakly  strain,  from  the  deck  of  our 
little  yacht,  but,  in  the  infinite  sounding-board  of  the  enii)y- 
rean,  it  may  be  heard,  distinct  as  if  it  came  from  some  mic;hty 
chorus,  with  accompaniment  of  resonant  or^jan  and  swelling 
orchestra. 

It  must  not  be  understood,  however,  that  wc  are  Sab- 
batarians, observing  the  day  in  the  straight-laced,  puritanical 
manner.  Wc  regard  it,  as  its  originators  intended,  as  a  day 
of  rest,  recreation,  and  religious  devotion.  No  unnecessary 
labor  is  engaged  in  on  Sunday  (nor  any  other  day,  for  that 
matter),  but  we  spend  the  hours  in  a  cheerful,  decorous  way, 
not  much  different  from  the  habit  on  secular  days,  except 
that  the  familiar  click  of  the  shuffling  domino  is  silent  in  the 
saloon.  This  abstention  is  a  tribute  of  respect  for  the  feel- 
ings of  Uncle  John,  who,  while  not  a  precisian,  sa}"s  he  was 
brought  up  to  regard  games  on  Sunda\-  as  wrong,  and  we 
yield  to,  without  sympathizing  with,  his  conscientious  scru- 
ples. As  in  New  York,  where  a  great  majority  of  the  popu- 
lation does  not  believe  in  the  rigorous,  pharisaical  observance 
of  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath,  the  minority  rules — with  this  dif- 
ference, that  here  we  live  up  to  our  law,  and  there  it  is  vio- 
lated. I  tried  to  convince  Uncle  John  that  he  was  wrong, 
but  there  is  no  use  of  arguing  with  a  man  who  says,  "  Thai's 
the  way  I  was  brought  up."  I  may  give  that  discussion  in 
cxtciiso  hereafter.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  now.  that  my  strong- 
est argument,  showing  the  appropriateness  of  Sunday  for  the 
noble  diversion  of  dominos,  failed  to  move  him.  I  said 
that  Sunday  is  dies  Domini,  and  domino  immediately  follows 
domini. 

As  a  rule,  sailors  are  superstitious,  but  not  religiously  in- 
clined, although  many  a  rough,  weather-beaten  skipper  car- 
ries his  Bible  to  sea,  and  thumbs  it  as  piously  and  unintelli- 
gently  as  the  scripture-reading  landsman  who  has  more  time 


294  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

to  become  muddled  in  its  continued  nebulous  perusal.  The 
sailor  sees  so  much  accomplished  by  able  seamanship  ;  he 
relies  so  much  upon  the  stout  heart,  the  quick  eye,  and  ready 
hand,  that  providential  interposition  is  rarely  invoked.  The 
man  at  the  wheel  is  not  apt  to  call  upon  Hercules.  Jack  is 
more  likely  to  depend  upon  his  own  efforts  than  on  prayero 
In  a  storm,  hands  are  more  useful  than  tongues,  spending 
futile  words  on  the  unlistening  tempest.  If  Jack  should  hear 
Deacon  Sloggs,  at  prayer-meeting,  asking  the  Almighty  to 
perform  a  miracle  and  cure  Brother  Snoggs  of  fever,  he  would 
be  inclined  to  say  that  quinine  would  do  more  good  than 
prayer.  Going  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  makes  men  practical. 
The  sailor's  idea  in  this  regard  is  well  expressed  in  the  follow- 
ing lines,  repeated  to  me  from  memory  by  a  yachtsman.  I 
hope  no  clergyman  will  accuse  me  of  heterodoxy,  and  assume, 
because  I  quote  them,  that  I  doubt  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  I 
do  not.  I  believe  prayer  exercises  a  most  salutary  influence 
— on  the  one  who  does  the  praying.  As  for  its  effect  on 
the  object  of  supplication,  where  supernatural  interference 
with  the  usual  course  is  invoked,  that  is  another  matter. 
Some  Christians  say  the  days  of  miracles  have  passed 
away,  per  omnia  scciila  secnloriim,  and  if  so,  what  is  the  use 
of  expecting  a  favorable  response  to  the  prayer  for  Brother 
Snoggs'  recovery  ?  Still  it  is  all  a  matter  of  opinion — 
and  faith.  You  have  a  variety  of  creeds  to  select  from. 
You  can  adopt  your  own  church  ;  "  you  pays  your  money 
and  you  takes  your  choice."  There  are  many  mansions 
in  the  great  house.  Sectarian  Christianity  is  like  some  im- 
mense variety-shop,  where  fresh  fabrics  are  constantly  ex- 
hibited in  attractive  display  ;  and  the  obsolete  patterns  are 
put  on  the  back-shelves,  until  recurrent  fashion  brings  them 
out  again,  to  furbish  new  as  novelties  for  succeeding  gen- 
erations. 


RELIGIOUS   SKRVICES.  295 

Here   is  the   sailor's   hard,  practical,  common-sense,  ma- 
terialistic view,  couched  in  rugged  homely  phrase  : 


THE   SAILOR  S   YARX. 

Religion  is  all  very  well  in  its  way, 

And  handy  maybe  now  and  then, 
But  prayin'  is  better  for  women  and  kids 

Than  for  us  able-bodied  men. 
As  a  parson  you  plays  your  game 

When  you  preaches  and  sings  and  prays, 
And  you'd  be  a  darned  fool  if  you  didn't, 

Considcrin'  ye  finds  as  it  pays. 

I'm  a  sailor,  sir,  not  a  parson, 

A  sanctified  son  of  a  gun  ! 
And  sailors  is  hard  to  tackle. 

As  you'll  find,  sir,  before  I  have  done  ! 
You've  spun  me  a  yarn  about  heaven 

And  things  as  I  don't  understand  ; 
Now  I'll  tell  you  what  happened 

One  night  on  the  Goodwin  Sands  ! 

'Twas  a  year  ago  come  November, 

I  was  mate  of  the  Ocean  Belle, 
We  wasn't  far  off  from  the  Goodwins, 

And  the  night  was  as  black  as  hell. 
The  ship  was  old  and  rotten, 

The  wind  was  a-blowin'  a  gale. 
And  the  way  we  was  pitchin'  and  tossin"' 

Would  have  turned  a  nigger  pale. 

I  knowed  wc  was  in  for  a  dustin'. 

But  I  didn't  begin  to  funk, 
I  went  astarn  to  the  Cap'n 

And  I  found  him  three  parts  drunk. 


296  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

He  knowed  just  as  well  as  I  did 

There  was  nothin'  more  to  be  done ; 

So  I  went  abaft  to  the  others 
And  I  told  them  one  by  one. 

Well,  some  on  'em  took  to  swearin', 

And  some  on  'em  took  to  rum  ; 
That's  the  way  tars  has  of  preparm' 

Their  souls  for  kingdom  come. 
But  one  on  'em  slunk  away,  sir  ! 

And  he  makes  for  the  cabin  stairs, 
And  underneath  we  could  hear  him 

A-pipin'  out  his  prayers. 


'Twarn't  more  nor  an  'arf  an  hour, 

When  on  she  goes  with  a  thud, 
And  the  old  ship  she  creaks  and  quivers 

With  a  creak  fit  to  curdle  your  blood. 
But  we  didn't  begin  a  funkin' 

And  shoutin',  "  Thy  will  be  done  !  " 
We  done  a  darned  sight  better  ; 

We  fired  the  minute  gun. 

We  passed  then  about  an  hour, 

But  more  than  a  week  it  seemed, 
When  a  somethin'  we  see'd  on  the  water, 

And  a  hip-hurrah  we  screamed  ; 
And  over  the  roar  of  the  waters 

Came  back  the  answerin'  cry. 
And  the  flash  of  the  oars  in  the  life-boat 

Told  us  that  help  was  nigh. 

Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  sir! 

We'd  all  on  us  left  the  ship 
When  she  gives  a  sudden  lurch,  sir. 

And  h'under  she  goes  with  a  dip  ! 


RELIGIOUS   SERVICES.  29/ 

But  when  \vc  looked  at  each  other's  faces 

In  tlic  Hght  of  the  dawn  of  day, 
I'm  darned  if  we  hadn't  forgotten 

The  cove  as  went  down  to  pray. 

Now  the  argyment  may  be  rotten, 

Aye  !  as  rotten  as  that  old  ship, 
But  if  he  hadn't  been  a  prayin' 

He'd  ha'  gived  Davy  Jones  the  slip  ; 
For  them  as  took  to  swearin', 

And  them  as  took  to  drink, 
Was  saved  by  the  Ramsgate  life-boat, 

While  he  was  left  to  sink. 

Jack's  idea  may  be  very  well  in  its  way,  but  if,  as  we  arc 
told,  this  earth  is  merely  a  place  of  probation  to  fit  us  for 
future  reward,  his  deduction  is  erroneous,  in  a  spiritualistic 
view.  The  Ramsgate  life-boat  saved  the  body  for  a  little 
further  sojourn  here  below,  but  the  soul  that  sailed  away  to 
the  eternal  sea  on  the  life-buoy  of  prayer,  was  better,  released 
thus  from  the  cares  and  temptations  of  a  longer  earthly  voy- 
age. To  the  man  who  went  down  praying,  the  troubles  and 
sorrows  of  this  wearying  world  were  ended,  and,  if  there  be 
truth  in  Holy  Writ,  he  went  opportunely,  equipped  for  the 
happiness  just  begun. 

Death  holds  the  great  Court  of  Bankruptcy,  where  all 
cited  to  appear  wipe  off  their  debts  as  the  feet  cross  the  thresh- 
old.     Who  dies,  pays. 

Life's  an  inn  on  a  summer's  day, 
Some  do  but  breakfast  and  away, 
Others  to  dinner  stay 

And  are  full  fed     .     .     . 
Large  is  his  score  who  tarries  all  the  day  ; 
Who's  stay's  the  shortest,  has  the  least  to  pay. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

PORT  ROYAL— KINGSTON. 

A  Carib  Canoe — Port  Royal — The  Boatswain's  Dulcet  Cry — Fish-sere- 
nade— Kingston — Streets — Rodney  :  Nelson  —  Market  —  Shadow  y 
Horse  —  Soldiers  —  Drive  into  Country — Virgil — Sugar-making — 
Rum — The  Passover — Good  Friday — The  Jews — Nasus  Hcbraicus. 

Kingston,  Jamaica,  April  ii,  1884. 
The  mountains  of  Jamaica  arose  from  the  sea  to  greet  us,  as 
we  came  on  deck,  the  morning  of  the  8th,  and  sent  aboard 
as  messengers  some  yellow-striped  birds,  which  settled  on  the 
rail  and  hovered  in  the  rigging,  making  themselves  as  much 
at  home  as  if  they  had  been  regularly  invited  by  card.  It  is 
remarkable  that  these  tiny  wings  should  possess  the  strength 
to  fly  so  far  out  to  sea,  and  strange  that  they  should  foolishly 
engage  in  such  profitless  roamings,  out  of  mere  curiosity,  but 
these  birds  have  no  sense  ;  they  are  feather-headed  little 
things. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  reached  the  vicinity  of  Port  Royal, 
the  entrance  harbor  to  Kingston,  and  after  we  had  beaten 
about  some  time  a  pilot-boat  approached,  with  the  swiftness 
of  a  racing-shell.  The  pilot  wore  the  conventional  plug-hat, 
razeed  to  the  dimensions  of  a  low-crowned  Derby.  All  the 
pilots  encountered  thus  far  are  black.  We  have  no  prejudice 
on  the  score  of  color,  and  are  as  willing  to  have  them  guide 
us  safely  into  port  as  if  they  were  Caucasians,  sang p7cr.  The 
boat  was  quite  a  curiosity,  a   canoe,  thirty-seven   feet  long. 


PORT   ROYAL — KIXGSTOX.  299 

dug  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  carrying  six  oars,  and  capable 
of  being  rowed  seven  knots  an  hour.  I  can  now  appreciate 
the  speed  of  the  canoes  in  which  the  Caribs  of  the  Windward 
Islands  made  predatory  excursions.  The  aborigines  of  Ja- 
maica resembled  them  in  their  warlike  character.  The  canoe 
of  the  cacique,  hollowed  out,  like  this  pilot-boat,  from  the 
trunk  of  a  single  tree,  carved  and  highly  ornamented,  was  an 
object  of  great  pride  to  the  owner.  It  was  a  kind  of  flag-ship 
to  the  chieftain. 

The  natives  resisted  Columbus  on  his  first  appearance, 
when  he  discovered  the  island,  but  afterward  became  friendly. 
One  of  the  caciques  went  aboard  his  ship  and  offered  to  ac- 
company him  back  to  Spain  to  pay  homage  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.  Looking  at  this  boat's  crew,  with  their  swart 
faces,  brows  bound  with  gay  handkerchiefs,  and  features 
strongly  marked  with  aboriginal  characteristics,  I  could  un- 
derstand how  they  were  fearless  warriors  on  the  island,  be- 
fore their  degeneration  by  civilized  contact,  white  subjuga- 
tion, and  the  introduction  of  African  slavery. 

We  cast  anchor  in  Port  Royal  harbor  shortK'  before  sun- 
set, as  there  was  not  wind  enough  for  us  to  reach  Kingston 
that  night.  Here  is  stationed  the  English  guard-ship,  a  white- 
coated  sentinel  standing  in  the  barbacan  of  Kingston.  The 
moon  poured  down  pellucid  beams  in  a  shimmering  flood,  and 
the  transmuted  ship  shone  forth  as  if  planked  in  mother-of- 
pearl,  the  rigging,  electroplated  by  the  argentiferous  shower, 
glossy  strands  of  frosted  silver  filigree.  It  might  be  the  ala- 
bastered  galley  of  a  fairy  queen,  for  the  sound  that  comes 
hailing  out  from  the  vessel — moon-enchanted  into  Titania's 
massive,  floating  palace — is  the  cacophonous  bra\'  of  Bottom. 
The  voice  of  the  boatswain  is  heard  on  the  sea,  and  where 
else  can  that  marvel  of  stridulence  be  encountered.  To  at- 
tempt a  description  of  this  sputtering  dissonance  would  bo 


300  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

useless.  No  idea  of  this  climax  of  discordance  can  be  con- 
veyed  through  the  eye,  the  lacerated  ear  alone  is  capable  of 
comprehending  its  incomparable  strident  culmination.  It 
is  a  conglomeration  of  the  screeching  of  a  Texas  owl ;  the 
howling  of  a  Colorado  panther  ;  the  blast  of  an  Avenue  D 
fish-horn  ;  the  stentorian  recitative  of  the  Exchange  Place 
afternoon  "  extry  "  newsboy  ;  the  choral  mingling  of  the  basso- 
profundo  of  a  Kentucky  mule,  the  baritone  of  a  Sunday- 
school  chorister,  and  the  counter-tenor  of  a  Vermont  crow  ; 
it  is  a  blending  of  the  objurgatory  treble  of  house-cleaning 
time,  with  the  snuffling  alto  of  the  village  schoolmarm,  and 
the  bass  of  a  raving  Kansas  stump-orator — all  combining  in 
the  inimitable  counterpoint  of  the  hoarse  boatswain's  cry.  I 
wonder  who  invented  that  mangling  explosion  of  afflictive 
inharmony,  that  ruthless  dynamition  of  voice.  Nature  was 
never  guilty  of  any  such  enormity,  for  there  is  symmetry  in 
all  natural  productions,  except  a  carbuncle  on  the  nose  of  the 
girl  you  love.  It  must  have  been  produced  by  some  process 
of  vocal  grafting,  or  some  procreant  extravagance  that  gen- 
erated a  monster.  Perhaps  it  is  the  whinny  of  the  nightmare. 
If  it  had  not  pervaded  all  the  navies  of  the  world  before  his 
devastations  in  the  fields  of  harmony,  I  should  suspect  Wagner. 
We  sat  long  in  the  moon-bath,  keeping  a  sharp  lookout 
for  the  appearance  of  a  shark-fin  above  the  molten  surface  of 
the  throbbing  wave,  for  Ave  had  heard  many  blood-curdling 
tales  of  the  ravenous  monsters  of  Port  Royal  harbor,  and 
would  have  liked  to  lure  one  alongside  with  a  bit  of  Cincin- 
nati bait,  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  sailors  who  had  fallen  vie 
tims  to  the  ferocious  man-eaters  in  the  story-books.  But  we 
saw  no  sharks,  though  many  other  fish,  frequently  came  to 
the  surface,  to  take  a  breath  of  fresh  night  air,  to  look  at  the 
moon,  and  nod  to  zodiacal  Pisces  relations,  winking  at  them 
from  among  the  planets. 


rORT   KOVAL — KINGSTON.  3OI 

A  strange  noise  was  heard,  with  monotonous  reiteration, 
resembhng  somewhat  the  groaning  of  a  distant  whistling- 
buoy  ;  or  the  vesper  hymn  of  a  Wihiiurt  Lake  bull-frog,  heard 
with  such  distinctness  in  the  perfect  atmospheric  purity  which 
prevails  in  an  elysian  region  of  the  North  Woods.  At  fust, 
we  thought  it  proceeded  from  a  snoring  boatswain  on  the 
guard-ship,  for  we  assumed  that  there  must  be  some  frag- 
ment of  the  day's  hoarseness,  lingering,  like  a  remnant  of 
fog,  in  the  boatswain's  throat,  to  make  night  hideous  with 
nasal  evolvement ;  but,  listening  attentively,  we  found  that 
it  proceeded  from  beneath  the  deck.  The  Commodore  was 
in  the 'saloon  at  the  time;  and  Uncle  John  and  I  made  up 
our  minds  that  the  grating  noise  was  his  singing,  sotto  voce, 
his  favorite  stirring  sea-ditt}',  surcharged  with  stimulating 
salt-spray,  which  he  has  made  a  macaronian  chant. 

Mater,  puis-je  sortir  to  siL'i»i  ? 

Jix  .'  miajii^lia  cara  .' 
Folds  tcs  hardi's  sur  V hickory  limb, 

]^  no  oiida  in  aqiid  .' 

When  he  came  on  deck,  and  the  noise  continued  as  if 
directly  under  the  keel,  we  were  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it, 
until  a  quartermaster  informed  us  that  it  was  the  saw-hhh, 
which  attaches  itself  to  the  bottom  of  a  vessel  and  causes  the 
sound,  which  can  be  licard  for  a  long  distance.  It  was  some- 
thing like  the  tearing  of  a  plank  by  a  rip-saw,  or  the  buzz  of  a 
planing-mill.  I  had  great  difficulty  in  ascertaining  the  exact 
name  of  this  burr-voiced  minstrel  of  the  sea  ;  the  quartermas- 
ter calling  it  a  saw-fish,  the  steward,  a  drum-fish,  the  United 
States  Consul  at  Kingston,  a  gruntcr,  Captain  Murra}-,  a 
trumpet-fish,  and  somebody  else,  a  bellows-fish.  It  doesn't 
matter  to  the  fish  what  I  call  it,  for  it  would  make  the  same 
noise  under  any  of  its  different  names.     Whether  Republican, 


302  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

or  Democrat,  Independent,  Greenbacker,  Stalwart,  Prohibi- 
tionist, or  Labor-Reformer  ;  Tammany,  Irving  Hall,  or 
County  Democracy,  it  is  only  a  matter  of  name.  The  wick- 
edness is  the  same,  and  the  same  queer  fish  swim  around  and 
appear  in  these  several  harbors,  changing  from  one  to  the 
other,  as  bait  runs  short  in  this  organization  or  becomes 
more  plentifully  alluring  in  that.  From  its  iterative  noise, 
different  names,  and  tendency  to  catch  on,  I  should  class  this 
fish  with  the  Reformers. 

The  next  morning  we  sailed  up  with  a  fresh  land  breeze 
and  cast  anchor  in  front  of  Kingston.  Few  vessels  were  in 
port.  Steam  is  fast  pushing  sails  aside,  and  a  large  steamer 
now  does  the  work  that  once  employed  several  sailing  ves- 
sels, Kingston  harbor  no  longer  presents  the  appearance  it 
bore  when  its  anchorage  was  bespread  with  canvas.  Prob- 
ably the  tonnage  is  as  great  as  formerly,  but  commerce  does 
not  display  so  much  bustle  :  attenuation  is  the  fashionable 
form. 

Kingston  is  a  ramshackle  old  place,  with  narrow,  ill-paved 
streets,  and  unattractive  buildings,  in  various  stages  of  din- 
giness,  dilapidation,  and  disrepair.  Many  of  the  houses  are 
unoccupied.  These  are  not  taxed  :  the  law  is,  no  tenant,  no 
taxes.  The  occupants  are  required  to  pay  assessments  and 
water-rates.  The  saying,  "  an  empty  house  is  better  than  a 
bad  tenant,"  may  have  originated  here,  anent  dubious  occu- 
pancy by  an  impecunious  lessee. 

In  1882,  a  destructive  conflagration  swept  over  a  wide  ex- 
tent of  the  business  part  of  the  city,  and  but  an  inconsider- 
able portion  has  been  rebuilt.  The  appearance  of  this  sec- 
tion is  unsightly  ;  an  extent  of  unroofed  walls,  with  here  and 
there  a  new  building  set  in  amid  a  mass  of  debris,  intensify- 
ing the  desolation  of  the  scene,  aggravated  by  the  ravages  of 
a  hurricane  which  caused  great  havoc  in  its  path.     The  ine- 


PORT   ROYAL — KINGSTON.  3O3 

qualities  of  the  sidewalks  would  make  an  alpenstock  a  con- 
venient appendage  to  the  pedestrian.  They  are  as  irregular 
as  the  habits  of  a  Boston  church  elder  in  Paris.  In  some 
places  the  trottoir  is  even  with  thc/^ziv',  in  others  it  is  built 
high  above.  Something  like  this  condition  was  seen  in 
Chicago  during  the  period  of  wonderful  house-raising,  by 
jack-screws,  to  the  changed  grade  of  the  streets.  The  thor- 
oughfares are  dirty  and  dusty,  notwithstanding  a  faint  effort 
is  made  to  sprinkle  them,  which  leave  traces  like  the  ineffec- 
tual discharge  of  a  poorly-perforated  pepper-box. 

A  handsome  monument  to  Admiral  Rodney,  who  achieved 
a  victory  over  the  French  fleet  of  De  Grasse,  in  1782,  occu- 
pies a  prominent  position  in  the  market  square,  near  the 
landing-place  at  the  principal  dock.  The  great  Nelson  held 
a  command  here  shortly  before,  and  was  engaged  in  the  ex- 
pedition against  San  Juan  de  Nicaragua,  in  which  he  con- 
tracted a  fever  that  nearly  cost  him  his  life. 

The  market  is  clean  and  well-ventilated,  with  stone  floors 
and  neatly-arranged  stalls  for  meat  and  vegetables.  Occu- 
pants of  stalls  pay  a  fixed  price  per  dicui,  proportioned  to 
the  quality  of  the  meat  vended.  Placards  on  the  walls  cau- 
tion buyers  against  being  cheated  in  weights.  It  reads : 
"  Beware  of  cheats  !  "  This  warning  might  be  regarded  to 
advantage  when  we  come  to  "  size  up  "  our  great  men.  The 
supply  of  vegetables  was  noticeable,  particularly  the  yams, 
some  of  which  were  large  enough  for  the  backlog  in  an 
oldfashioned  fireplace.  The  vendors  were  nearly  all  neg- 
resses. 

Telegraphy  is  cheap  as  compared  with  other  West  Indian 
islands,  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  word  to  New  York.  Water  is 
abundant  and  very  cheap,  a  full  supply  for  the  yacht  cost- 
ing but  three  dollars.  Uncle  John  wondered  why  so  much 
money  was  expended  for  water,  but  I  smelt  an  old  joke. 


304  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

revived  by  the  prevalence  of  Jamaica  rum.  It  was  Falstafif's 
bread  and  sack  again,  which  comes  up  every  now  and  then 
in  a  new  shape,  Hke  the  Pantagruehsms,  re-vamped  from 
century  to  century.  I  must  remonstrate  with  Uncle  John  on 
his  habit  of  joking,  and  especially  in  the  matter  of  old  Joes. 
He  says  so  many  original,  bright  things,  that  it  isn't  neces- 
sary for  him  to  rummage  in  the  dust-bin  to  keep  up  a  con- 
stant fire. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Goldey,  Chief  Inspector  of 
Customs,  we  were  put  down  at  the  Club,  which  we  visited  in 
search  of  the  vi7i  dn  pays.     It  was  found. 

We  drove  about  the  streets  in  the  common  vehicle  of 
transport,  called  a  'Bus,  a  shaky  concern  with  rheumatic 
springs,  drawn  by  a  melancholy  horse,  of  composite,  mediae- 
val architecture,  the  protuberant,  bony  angularity  of  which 
prompted  the  Commodore  to  inquire  if  his  ordinary  feed  was 
oyster-shells.  The  grinning  driver  claimed  that  oats  was  the 
principal  article  of  diet,  but  we  were  of  the  opinion  that  the 
food  must  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  salt.  Perhaps  Duke  Hum- 
phrey furnishes  the  oats,  or  it  may  be  a  Baratarian  feast,  or 
an  imaginative  "  kitchen,"  like  the  "potatoes  and  point"  in 
Ireland,  where  a  flitch  of  bacon  is  suspended  from  the  ceiling 
and  those  gathered  at  the  table  point  their  potatoes  at  it,  and 
then  swallow  the  tubers,  with  the  flavor  of  the  smoked  meat 
in  their  minds.  Our  horse  must  have  looked  at  a  bag  of 
oats  and  munched  sawdust.  But  he  may  have  known  enough 
to  go  to  sleep  when  hungry  ;  he  was  asleep  when  w^e  came 
along.  Qui  dort,  dine.  (Was  there  ever  such  a  fellow  to 
sleep  as  the  Parisian  cocJicr  /)  We  paid  a  dollar  an  hour  for 
the  use  of  the  horse.  That  wheezy  animal,  with  caverned 
flank,  earned  his  fair  market  value  in  one  drive.  He  looked 
like  a  fly  that  had  enjoyed  a  private  conference  with  a  spider 
in  his  penetralia.      He  had  no  more  freshness  to  him  than  the 


PORT    ROYAL— KINGSTON.  305 

public  garden,  or  park,  a  collection  of  droughty  trees  and  des- 
iccated grass,  that  we  christened  Sahara. 

The  streets  swarm  with  black  soldiers,  the  First  West 
India  Regiment,  in  zouave  uniform,  small  but  hardy-looking 
men,  not  unlike  the  French  Chasseurs  iV Afriquc  in  appear- 
ance. They  are  reputed  to  be  savage  fighters.  No  doubt 
they  get  away  with  the  rations,  the  only  object  of  attack  in 
these  piping  times  of  peace.  Their  barracks,  on  the  liills 
just  outside  the  city,  are  spacious  buildings,  with  extensive 
grounds,  apparently  comfortable  and  convenient.  The  white 
troops  (at  present  a  regiment  of  Royal  Scots  is  stationed 
here)  are  in  cantonment  at  Newcastle,  far  up  in  the  mountains, 
a  picturesque  situation,  inaccessible  to  wheeled  vehicles. 
Sailors  being  but  indififerent  equestrians,  we  concluded  not  to 
visit  the  camp  on  horseback.  If  we  could  have  used  the  Com- 
modore's gig,  we  would  have  rowed  up  there.  The  moun- 
tain scenery  is  represented  to  be  very  fine,  but  it  would  have 
slight  interest  to  one  who  has  ascended  Long's  Peak,  in  tjie 
"Rockies,"  with  Aleck  Stetson,  during  a  thunder-storm; 
that  is — ascended  to  the  base  and  peeped  up  at  the  Peak 
through  rifts  in  the  clouds,  or  would  have  done  so  had  there 
been  any  rifts.  It  is  said  that  the  Newcastle  cantonment  is 
delightfully  cool,  even  calling  for  blankets  at  night,  but  cold- 
ness presents  no  attraction  in  the  way  of  novelt)'  to  one  who 
has  wintered  in  Central  New  York,  with  the  thermometer 
struggling  in  the  frigid  embrace  of  below-zero. 

A  drive  out  through  the  suburbs  to  the  neighboring 
mountains,  along  dry  roads,  lined  WMth  trees  bearing  luxuriant 
layers  of  accumulated  dust,  was  not  particularh-  interesting. 
No  rain  has  fallen  for  several  weeks  past.  A  majorilx-  o^  those 
we  met  in  the  road  were  negro  women  and  children,  bear- 
ing the  usual  head  burden.  The  females  seem  to  outnumber 
the  males  in  these  parts,  or  else  they  arc  more  given  to  gad- 
20 


306  THE   CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

ding  about.  A  curious  thing  was  a  ponderous  three-wheeled 
cart,  drawn  by  six  oxen.  Uncle  John  said  it  was  a  reminder 
of  the  pastoral  age,  and  commenced  talking  about  Ruth  and 
Boaz,  and  quoting  from  the  Bible  ;  but  I  gave  him  Tityre  tit 
patiilcE,  and  a  few  little  things  from  the  Eclogues,  though 
when  I  asked  him,  Quid  facial  IcBtas  fcgctcs  ?  he  handed  me 
a  paper  of  tobacco,  though  he  knows  I  don't  chew.  He  stood 
it  pretty  well,  until  I  changed  my  tone  and  hurled  at  him, 
Anna  viriunque  cano,  when  he  surrendered  at  discretion. 
He  can't  rake  up  these  old  things  on  me.  No  quotations  in 
mine,  if  you  please.  There  is  too  much  reading  of  musty 
books.  Give  us  newspapers,  robberies,  rapes,  and  murders  ! 
I  want  to  talk  about  the  Present,  "  let  the  dead  Past  bury  its 
dead"  (Longfellow — I  don't  claim  it).  What  did  the  ignorant 
dead  Past  know  about  gas-stoves  and  stuffed  ballot-boxes  ? 
Therefore  I  never  look  back — never  ! 

Then  let  us  go  ahead,  to  the  Governor's  residence,  some 
miles  inland,  situated  in  a  fertile  plain  among  the  hill  tops  ; 
reminding  one  of  English  rural  scenery.  The  pastures  con- 
tained choice  cattle,  imported  from  England.  The  game  of 
lawn-tennis  was  in  progress  on  the  Governor's  grounds.  Ap- 
parently the  great  pbject  of  life  with  English  colonists  is  to 
play  lawn-tennis.  We  found  it  flourishing  everywhere,  from 
Bermuda  to  Jamaica.  We  shall  lose  it  in  the  Spanish  domain 
of  Cuba,  where  it  will  be  exchanged  for  the  mild  diversion 
of  bull-fighting.  A  few  drops  of  rain  fell  as  we  passed  the 
environs,  another  slight  pluvial  tribute  to  the  representative 
of  juicy  Fort  Schuyler.  An  umbrella,  hoisted  to  receive  the 
aqueous  salute,  excited  the  risibilities  of  those  we  encount- 
ered in  the  road.  But  I  am  used  to  being  laughed  at.  I 
once  believed  in  reform  and  shouted  for  it,  until  I  found  my 
partners  in  the  business  selHng  short  on  their  own  account 
while  I  was  bulling  the  market  among  the  outsiders.     Then 


PORT   ROYAL — KL\(JSTOX.  307 

I  have  antagonized  Jay  Gould  in  stocks,  supposing  all  the 
time  that  I  was  on  his  side.  Yes,  I  have  been  laughed  at  a 
good  deal  in  my  life. 

A  description  of  the  process  of  making  sugar  may  be  in- 
teresting to  you,  as  I  assume  you  know  nothing  about  sugar- 
making  except  in  the  sap-bush  among  the  sugar-maple  trees. 
I  will  endeavor  to  describe  it,  as  witnessed  on  the  estate  of 
Mr.  John  Sawyer,  kindly  explained  to  us  by  William  Goffe, 
the  colored  acting  bailiff,  and  Elias  Murray,  the  white  dis- 
tiller. 

The  premises  presented  a  busy  appearance,  something 
after  the  fashion  of  the  English  Harvest  Home.  Huge  wains, 
drawn  by  oxen,  were  entering  the  yard,  laden  with  masses  of 
sugar-cane,  cut  from  the  adjoining  fields.  The  harvesting 
season  begins  in  January  and  lasts  until  May.  One  crop  a 
year  is  cut  here,  but  in  St.  Kitt's  two  are  gathered.  The 
cane  is  ground  in  a  mill  outside,  something  like  an  immense 
coffee-mill,  the  expressed  juice  flowing  into  pans  beneath, 
whence  it  is  pumped  into  tuns  within  the  building.  Here  the 
specific  saccharine  gravity  is  tested  by  the  saccharometer, 
and  the  quantity  of  refined  lime  required  for  clarification 
determined.  The  lime  is  then  put  in,  producing  an  effect 
like  yeast,  causing  the  impurities  and  refuse  matter  to  rise  to 
the  top.  It  is  a  sort  of  disturbing  element,  like  an  election 
in  the  United  States,  bringing  the  scum  to  the  surface.  Un- 
like ours,  however,  it  is  of  some  use,  and  is  converted  into 
rum.  Much  of  ours  runs  to  cold  water.  This  agent  was 
formerly  used  in  the  purification  of  wine  ;  Shakespeare 
makes  Falstaff  complain  of  the  undue  quantity  of  lime  in  his 
sack. 

After  the  purification  has  been  accomplished,  the  liquid 
is  conducted  into  vats,  where  it  is  boiled  and  then  run  into 
shallow  coolers,  on  which   it  solidifies.     It   is   then  shoveled 


308  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

into  the  hopper  of  a  mill,  where,  by  the  centrifugal  process, 
the  constituents  are  disintegrated,  the  dry  sugar  falling  into 
one  receptacle,  while  the  liquid  melasses  drips  into  another. 
The  melasses  is  sent  to  the  adjoining  distillery  and  made  into 
rum,  by  the  ordinary  process  of  distillation,  the  condensation 
of  vaporized  spirit.  The  rum  is  colorless  when  distilled,  and 
is  tinged  to  the  commercial  tint  by  the  use  of  burnt  sugar. 
All  the  fuel  used  is  what  is  called  "  trash,"  the  dry  residuum 
of  sugar-cane  after  pressing. 

The  product  of  Mr.  Sawyer's  estate  this  season  is  esti- 
mated at  two  hundred  and  fifty  hogsheads,  of  about  a  ton 
each,  or  half  a  million  pounds  of  sugar.  The  melasses  from 
this  quantity  will  yield  twenty  thousand  gallons  of  rum.  The 
excise  duty  is  eight  shillings  a  gallon,  the  producer  receives 
about  three  shillings,  so  that  the  cost  of  a  gallon  of  Jamaica 
rum  in  the  distillery  is  two  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents. 
When  to  this  is  added  the  import  duty  of  two  dollars  per  gal- 
lon, the  cost  of  handling  and  transportation,  with  the  profits 
of  the  exporter,  importer,  and  broker,  it  will  be  seen  that 
genuine  Jamaica  rum  is  an  expensive  luxury  in  the  United 
States,  costing  not  less  than  five  dollars  a  gallon  to  import. 
This  should  be  borne  in  mind  when  it  is  offered  in  Kansas  at 
a  less  cost.  It  cannot  be  genuine,  it  must  be  doctored  by 
the  druggist.  These  facts  are  furnished  for  the  information 
of  the  Iowa  Legislature,  which  devotes  a  large  share  of  its 
valuable  time  to  the  discussion  of  the  merits  of  rum  ;  the 
various  spirituous  liquors  being  grouped  into  that  terse, 
generic  designation  in  the  vocabulary  of  vituperation. 

Returning,  we  were  attracted  by  the  sign  of  a  roadside  inn, 
"Branch  of  the  American  Hotel,"  and,  with  patriotic  devo- 
tion, indulged  in  some  soda-water,  which  proved  to  be  of  do- 
mestic manufacture.  The  only  thing  American  about  the 
place   was  a  large  chromo,  representing  the   famous   forum 


PORT   ROYAL — KINGSTON.  309 

scene  in  Virginius,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Theatre,  with  Jolin 
McCuUough  in  the  title-role.  But  surely  there  could  be  ex- 
hibited no  nobler  specimen  of  the  American  than  the  gifted 
McCullough. 

No  singing-birds  are  found  here,  if  we  except  the  solitaire, 
or  Jamaica  nightingale,  which  is  heard  only  in  the  recesses 
of  remote  forests  among  the  mountains.  There  are  many 
birds  of  brilliant  plumage,  but  the  absence  of  songsters  is  a 
peculiarity  of  the  tropics.  Indeed  there  is  nothing  cheerful 
about  them  in  any  regard. 

We  struck  two  holidays  in  Kingston,  Maundy  Thursda\-, 
when  a  few  exceedingly  good  Christians  go  to  church,  and 
Good  Friday,  which  is  a  close  holiday,  with  entire  cessation 
of  business.  Holy  Thursday  is  coincident  with  the  Passover, 
which  is  scrupulously  observed  among  the  Jews.  Jewish  ab- 
stention from  commerce  one  day,  followed  by  Christian  in- 
termission the  next,  brought  two  religious  observances  into 
contact,  and  afforded  an  edifying  exhibition  of  soldiers  in 
different  uniforms  relieving  guard  in  the  Army  of  the  Lord. 
There  are  about  two  thousand  Jews  in  Kingston,  and,  as 
mercantile  transactions  are  largely  under  their  control,  there 
was  a  noticeable  quiescence  in  the  shops  of  the  principal 
commercial  streets.  Uncle  John  remarked  that,  with  so 
many  closed  shutters,  business  seemed  to  be  playing  a  hand- 
ful of  blanks.  He  is  prone  to  draw  his  illustrations  from  the 
game  in  which  he  is  so  proficient.  The  blinds  were  up,  and 
I  fancy  the  merchants  were  not  inside,  although  the  absence 
of  the  occupant  cannot  always  be  predicated  of  the  closed 
front  door  of  a  Christian  shop.  We  have  the  advantage  in 
devout  profession,  but  the  Jews  and  Mahommedans  beat  us 
in  rigorous  observance.     We  preach,  they  practice. 

The  exceptional  social  importance  of  the  Israelites  in 
Kingston  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  Jamaica  was  settled  while 


3IO  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Cromwell  ruled  in  England,  and  the  Protector  sympathized 
with  the  refugees  from  inquisitorial  persecution  in  Spain  and 
Portugal.  The  Puritans  were  not  apt  to  countenance  perse- 
cution, unless  they  had  an  investment  in  it  on  their  own  ac- 
count. There  are  two  synagogues  in  Kingston,  one  for  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese,  and  one  for  the  English  and  Ger- 
mans. 

We  observed  Good  Friday,  in  order  to  conform  to  the 
usages  of  the  country,  and  to  manifest  our  gradual  disinthrall- 
ment  from  the  Puritanism  of  old  New  England,  which  en- 
joined the  eating  of  meat  on  Good  Friday,  and  prohibited 
minced-pies  at  Christmas,  as  tangible  protests  against  papist- 
ical methods  of  salvation.  But  I  had  a  narrow  escape.  I 
trusted  to  our  steward,  a  native  of  Santa  Cruz,  an  honest 
man  and  a  good  Catholic,  and  he,  in  a  fit  of  absence  of  mind, 
placed  chicken-soup  before  me  at  dinner.  I  am  liable  to  be 
forgetful,  but  I  had  a  reminder  that  day ;  there  was  a  Jew 
aboard,  and  my  Lenten  gorge  rose  against  him  warningly. 
Therefore  I  bethought  myself  in  time,  and  touched  not,  tasted 
not,  handled  not  the  heretical  broth.  Imagine  the  undying 
remorse  of  that  steward  if,  through  his  thoughtlessness,  I  had 
imperiled  the  salvation  of  my  soul  by  eating  chicken-soup  on 
Good  Friday  ! 

Although  the  advent  of  the  penitential  day  was  a  refresher 
to  the  religious  animosity  indoctrinated  by  Christian  duty, 
worldly,  time-serving  courtesy  was  permitted  to  relax  the 
strictness  of  orthodox  hate,  and  we  leniently  checked  the  ebul- 
lition of  devout  wrath.  We  treated  our  guest  with  as  much 
consideration  as  if  he  were  not  of  the  race  that  committed  an 
abhorred  deed,  which  afforded  the  amiable  barons  of  the 
Middle  Ages  a  justification  for  the  lucrative  business  of  den- 
tistry on  Hebrew  jaws.  Gold-filling  is  expensive.  It  used 
to  cost  the  wealthy  Jews  vast  sums  of  money  to  save  their 


rORT    KOVAL — KIXCSTOX.  3II 

teeth,  yet  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  expenditure  to  keep  their 
teeth  from  being  pulled  out  was  trifling  compared  with  what 
it  costs  us  to  put  ours  in.  The  most  exacting  Crusader, 
charging,  sword  in  hand,  couldn't  vie  with  the  New  York  den- 
tist, armed  with  the  nerve-shocking  patent-drill  ;  which  may 
the  horrent  Furies  take  to  their  vengeful  keeping  !  sa}'  I. 

Charitable  time  has  measurably  assuaged  our  holy  hor- 
ror, and  righteous  aversion  prevents  none  of  us  from  making 
a  dollar  or  two  in  the  company  of  Jews — whenever  they  will 
let  us.  Lapsing  years  draw  out  the  sting  of  wounds,  yet 
when  the  Jew  gets  the  best  of  us  in  a  bargain  (and  he  ahva}'s 
does)  we  remember  the  sin  of  his  blood,  and  regard  him  with 
sanctified  Christian  detestation.  It  cannot  be  expected,  how- 
ever, that,  after  the  lapse  of  centuries,  this  feeling  should  be 
so  intense  as  when  the  cause  for  it  was  yet  fresh.  I,  for  ex- 
ample, would  hardly  entertain  as  much  feeling  in  the  matter 
as  did  my  ancestors,  dwelling  in  their  marble  palaces,  heated 
by  steam,  with  nickel-plated  radiators — smoking  Hawina  ci- 
gars, and  playing  croquet  with  maids  of  Erin,  under  the  mis- 
tletoe, amid  the  Druid  oaks  of  Ireland,  when  they  read  the 
startling  intelligence,  in  the  extra  newspapers,  peddled  by  the 
original  Rothschild  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and  sent 
to  Enniskillen,  by  fast  mail,  on  the  limited  express,  via  Jericho. 
Tolerant  usage  has  blunted  the  keen  edge  of  indignation,  ex- 
cept in  rare  cases,  like  that  of  Judge  Hilton,  who,  being  an 
Irishman,  refuses  to  be  placated. 

I  must  confess  to  a  great  admiration  for  our  erring  brethren 
of  the  Hebrew  persuasion.  They  are  a  strong-brained  race. 
After  all,  the  main  object  in  life  is  money-getting  ;  to  that 
end  is  every  effort  devoted.  Cash  is  the  thing,  "  the  rest  is 
all  but  leather  or  prunello."  From  the  mightiest  emperor, 
to  the  meanest  beggar,  all  are  after  money.  It  flows  from 
the  poet's  pen,  and  drips  from  the  mired  scoop  of  the  night- 


312  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

man  ;  it  pays  the  bishop  on  his  imposing  episcopal  throne, 
and  the  scurvy  knave  who  struts  on  the  dishonest  rostrum 
of  the  demagogue. 

This  proscribed  race  has  been  endowed  with  one  of  the 
greatest  gifts  conferred  by  a  kind  Providence — a  nose. 
Therein  hes  the  financial  success  of  the  Jew.  Samson,  de- 
prived of  his  locks,  was  weak  and  powerless;  cut  off  the  nose 
of  the  modern  Jew  and  he  would  have  no  advantage  in 
money-making  over  the  Christian,  who,  as  it  is,  can  hardly 
get  a  smell  when  there  is  a  Jew  around,  except  of  "  ole-clo." 
It  doesn't  require  brains  to  do  business  ;  it  is  all  a  matter  of 
nose.  The  Jew  proboscis  will  hook  on  somewhere.  The 
concave  has  no  show  against  the  convex.  It  will  do  well 
enough  for  the  priest,  or  doctor,  the  statesman,  poet,  orator, 
musician,  or  soldier,  but  it  won't  answer  for  the  peddler  and 
banker.  Depend  upon  it,  the  great  secret  of  success  lies  in 
nasal  convexity,  with  corresponding  "  cheek." 

We  ought  not  to  be  unreasonably  prejudiced  against  the 
Jews  because  of  the  transgression  of  their  forefathers,  for  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  committed  by  a  lynch-law  mob, 
at  the  instigation  of  self-seeking  leaders.  It  would  be  im- 
possible for  a  like  outrage  to  be  perpetrated  in  our  enlight- 
ened times  ;  such  a  thing  as  lynching  is  unknown  among  us. 
(This  is  what  A.  Ward  called  "  sarkusm.")  The  mob  ruled 
then  ;  the  mob  rules  to-day,  and  is  just  as  vindictive  as  when 
the  former  scribes  and  pharisees  deluded  the  unthinking, 
boisterous  multitude.  And  it  still  retains  a  leaning  toward 
Barrabas.  Whether  composed  of  cowboys  and  rough  frontiers- 
men, the  unwashed  and  unkempt  multitude,  swiftly  aveng- 
ing some  crime  red-handed  ;  or  of  shopkeepers,  stock-brokers, 
grain-handlers,  butter-prodders,  or  cotton-feelers,  under  the 
name  of  public  opinion,  it  is  the  same  aggregation  of  the 
savagery  of  human  nature,  seeking  for  some  victim  of  blind 


PORT    KOVAL — KINGSTON.  313 

and  merciless  persecution,  to  rend  and  tear  until  the  appe- 
tite for  denunciation  is  satiated.  The  Jews  persecuted  in  Pal- 
estine, and  have  been  the  objects  of  retributive  persecution 
ever  since. 

I  have  great  respect  for  the  business  capacity  of  the  Jews. 
Their  sanatory  ordinances,  enforced  as  religious  laws,  deserve 
the  liighest  praise.  There  be  fastidious  persons  who  affect  to 
turn  up  unarched  noses  at  the  frowsiness  of  the  gaberdine, 
which  has  survived  the  wear  and  tear  of  centuries,  but  the 
ancient  pocket  is  lined  with  gold,  and  that  smells  sweet  no 
matter  where  it  comes  from.  The  Roman  satirist  Juvenal 
said,  long  before  the  Wall  Street  operator  aftlicted  the  earth, 
Lncri  bonus  est  odor  ex  re  qudlibct. 

With  which  few  judicious  remarks,  I  leave  \\\q.  jueiuidus 
hovio  to  mind  his  own  business,  take  care  of  his  own  family, 
keep  out  of  the  alms-house,  lend  money  to  kings  and  poten- 
tates, and  control  the  commerce  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

JAMAICA. 

Historical — Buccaneers — Representative  Government — Emancipation — 
Native  Americans — The  Suffrage — Educational  and  Property  Quali- 
fications —  Humbug  —  Population  —  Productions — Coolies — Ceme- 
terial — Religious  Divisions — Imports  and  Exports — Luxurious  Bosh. 

Kingston,  April  ii,  1884. 
Jamaica  (Indian  name  Yaymaca,  signifying  abundant  rivers) 
is  144  miles  long  and  49  miles  wide  in  its  greatest  extent. 
The  island  is  mountainous,  with  ranges  of  considerable  alti- 
tude, the  highest  peak  of  the  Blue  Mountains  having  an  ele- 
vation of  7,360  feet.  Columbus  discovered  Jamaica,  during 
his  second  voyage,  on  May  3,  1494.  It  remained  in  Spanish 
possession  until  May  16,  1655,  when  it  was  captured  by  an 
English  expedition  commanded  by  Admiral  Penn.  Uncle 
John  remarked,  when  the  fact  was  stated,  that  the  force  of 
the  English  Penn  was  mightier  than  the  Spanish  horde,  but  I 
didn't  think  it  was  much  of  a  joke,  especially  as  the  Commo- 
dore inquired  if  it  was  a  pig-pen,  in  which  case  it  would  be 
properly  styled  stylographic.  I  hate  puns,  and  if  Uncle  John 
doesn't  stop  making  them  I  will  quit  the  yacht  as  soon  as  we 
get  to  New  York.  The  inveterate  punster  becomes  a  bore. 
True,  Cicero  was  a  great  punster,  and  so  was  Shakespeare, 
but  Sam  Johnson  detested  these  witticisms.  I  suppose  my 
style  is  more  like  Johnson's  than  Shakespeare's.  I  never 
read  much  of  Johnson,  but  I  don't  think  there  is  a  very  strong 
resemblance  between  Shakespeare's  writings  and  mine,  ex- 


JAMAICA.  3  I  5 

cept  in  the  bad  Latin.  But  this  episodical  digression  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  history  of  Jamaica. 

The  next  year,  there  was  a  considerable  English  settle- 
ment, by  emigrants  from  Bermuda,  Barbados,  and  New 
England.  Among  the  arrivals  recorded  this  year,  were  one 
thousand  girls  and  as  many  young  men  who  had  been  "  en- 
listed "  in  Ireland,  and  sent  to  the  colony  as  good  stock. 
Upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  General  D'Oylcy  was 
appointed  Governor  and  empowered  to  elect  a  Council  of 
twelve  persons,  who  were  authorized  to  pass  acts  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Colony.  Children  born  in  Jamaica,  of  natural 
born  English  subjects,  were  declared  to  be  free  denizens  of 
England.  A  House  of  Assembly  was  constituted  and  a  rep- 
resentative government  thus  established  at  an  early  day. 
Grants  of  lands  were  made  to  several  Maroons  (slaves  left  by 
the  Spaniards  in  the  interior),  and  privileges  were  accorded 
them  with  a  view  to  their  conciliation.  These  proved  inef- 
fectual. Juan  De  Bolas,  one  of  this  race  who  had  been  made 
colonel  of  a  black  regiment  of  militia,  was  killed  by  ambushed 
Maroons  while  on  his  way  for  their  reduction.  After  their 
pacification,  insurrection  frequently  broke  out  among  them. 

Grave  dissensions  prevailed  in  the  Legislative  Assembly 
during  the  administration  of  Sir  Thomas  Modyford,  who  was 
called  to  account  for  issuing  on  his  own  responsibilit}'  com- 
missions to  the  privateers  who  swarmed  in  the  Caribbean 
Sea.  Among  them  was  the  famous  Captain  Morgan,  whose 
buccaneering  exploits  formed  the  theme  for  horrible  tales  of 
rapine.  He  ravaged  the  Spanish  possessions  with  fire  and 
sword.  He  was  knighted  for  his  capture  of  Panama,  and, 
some  years  afterward,  succeeded  Sir  Thomas  Lynch  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Jamaica.  Subsequently,  he  was  sent  to  England  for 
breaking  the  peace  with  the  Spaniards,  contrary  to  His  Ma- 
jesty's express  orders,  but  was  released  after  three  years'  im- 


3l6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

prisonment.  Morgan  cuts  a  great  figure  in  tlie  pirate  story- 
books which  used  to  be  fashionable  reading.  I  don't  remember 
much  about  his  piratical  adventures  which  I  read,  but  I  have 
a  vague  idea  about  the  connection  of  his  name  with  Thurlow 
Weed's  in  some  perilous  enterprise.  They  may  have  raided 
together  in  Albany.  One  is  liable  to  get  these  things  mixed 
in  the  mind.  But  I  believe  Weed's  Morgan  was  some  other 
man. 

A  spirit  of  independence  seemed  to  animate  the  Colonial 
Assembly  from  the  outset,  for  when  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  (under 
James  II.)  arrived  as  Governor,  and  announced  that  the  mode 
of  passing  laws  was  to  be  changed  to  the  system  established 
in  Ireland  under  the  Poyning's  act,  the  Assembly  refused  to 
accede  to  a  curtailment  of  its  liberties,  and  was  dissolved. 
Another  dissolution  failed  to  accomplish  the  change.  Colo- 
nel Samuel  Long,  the  Chief  Justice,  was  arrested  and  sent  to 
England  as  a  prisoner  for  advising  the  Assembly  to  resist, 
but  he  advocated  the  cause  of  the  colonists  so  eloquently  be- 
fore the  Court  that  the  new  order  was  revoked,  and  the  Earl 
of  Carlisle  was  superseded  by  Sir  Thomas  Lynch,  who,  upon 
his  arrival,  announced  that  "  His  Majesty,  upon  the  Assem- 
bly's humble  address,  was  pleased  to  restore  us  our  beloved 
form  of  making  laws,  wherein  we  enjoy,  beyond  dispute,  all 
deliberative  powers  in  our  Assembly  that  the  House  of  Com- 
mons enjoy  in  the  House." 

In  1687,  the  Duke  of  Albemarle  arrived  as  Governor,  ac- 
companied by  Father  Churchill,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  to 
convert  the  inhabitants  to  Catholicity.  His  medical  attend- 
ant was  Dr.  Hans  Sloane,  the  celebrated  naturalist.  The 
Duke  soon  engaged  in  a  contest  with  the  Assembly,  and  im- 
prisoned one  of  the  members  for  quoting  in  debate  the  aphor- 
ism that  the  good  of  the  people  is  the  supreme  law.  He 
died  shortly  before  the  flight  of  James  II.  and  the  proclama- 


JAMAICA.  317 

tion  of  William  and  Mary.  In  1690,  occurred  the  great 
earthquake  which  destroyed  Port  Royal,  then  the  finest  town 
in  the  West  Indies.  Whole  streets  were  swallowed  up  by 
the  opening  of  the  earth,  which,  as  it  closed  again,  squeezed 
the  people  to  death,  and  in  this  manner  several  were  left  with 
their  heads  above  ground.  The  liarbor  was  covered  with 
floating  dead  bodies,  which  engendered  a  plague  by  their 
putrefaction. 

For  the  next  twenty-five  years,  there  was  a  succession  of 
quarrels  between  the  Council  and  the  Assembly  ;  the  negroes 
were  rebellious,  and  intestine  brawls  rendered  the  protection 
of  the  coast  so  inefficient  that  the  Picaroons  of  Cuba  were 
able  to  invade  the  territory  with  impunity.  In  1726,  the  for- 
midable Maroon  insurrection,  under  the  noted  leader  Cudjoe, 
broke  out,  and  was  suppressed  with  great  difficulty.  The 
result  was  a  concession  to  the  Maroons,  who  were  granted 
freedom.  The  formidable  insurgent  Captain  Cudjoe  was  ap- 
pointed their  chief  commander.  In  1762,  an  expedition  sailed 
from  Port  Royal  and  captured  Havana,  with  immense  booty. 
The  naval  victory  of  Rodney  over  De  Grasse,  who  was  on 
his  way  to  join  the  Spaniards  in  the  invasion  of  Jamaica,  oc- 
curred the  year  before  the  breaking  out  of  our  Revolutionary 
War.  In  1785,  occurred  a  tremendous  hurricane,  from  the 
results  of  which  (and  the  restriction  of  trade  with  the  United 
States)  it  was  estimated  that  fifteen  thousand  negroes  per- 
ished by  famine. 

A  stout  resistance  was  offered  by  the  Council  and  Assem- 
bly to  the  project  of  Mr.  Wilberforce  for  the  suppression  of 
the  slave  trade.  The  value  of  the  2 50, OCX)  slaves  on  the  island 
was  then  estimated  at  $65,000,000.  During  the  war  in 
which  England  was  involved  with  France  and  the  United 
States,  in  1812,  the  stoppage  of  exports  created  a  financial 
depression,  which   compelled   the  Assembly  to  authorize  the 


3l8  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

cutting  out  from  the  centre  of  the  current  coin  a  piece  equal 
to  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent,  which  was  circulated  under 
the  denomination  of  a  "bit."  The  term  bit,  applied  to  the 
Spanish  coin,  value  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  current  in  the 
United  States  twenty-five  years  ago,  probably  came  from  this 
clipped  piece. 

The  island  was  greatly  agitated,  in  1823,  by  Mr.  Canning's 
resolution  calling  for  an  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  slaves 
in  the  British  colonies.  Included  in  his  project  were  the 
abolition  of  Sunday  markets,  the  use  of  the  whip  in  the  fields, 
and  the  exemption  of  women  from  corporal  punishment  un- 
der any  circumstances.  The  recommendations  were  rejected 
by  the  Assembly,  which  declared  that  "  the  slave  code  was 
as  complete  in  all  its  enactments  as  the  nature  of  circumstan- 
ces would  permit. "  So  intense  was  the  hostility  of  the  Assem- 
bly and  slave-owners  to  the  Imperial  Government  at  this  time, 
that  a  threat  was  made  to  "  transfer  their  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  or  even  to  assert  their  independence  after  the 
manner  of  their  continental  neighbors."  The  excitement  was 
so  great  that  a  slave  insurrection  broke  out  which  caused 
some  loss  of  life. 

After  a  long  struggle,  emancipation  triumphed,  and  the 
British  Parliament  passed  an  act  declaring  that,  on  and  after 
August  I,  1834,  all  slaves  should  be  free,  subject  to  an  inter- 
mediate apprenticeship  of  six  years.  At  that  time  there  were 
300,000  slaves  in  Jamaica.  The  Government  appropriated 
$100,000,000  to  compensate  the  owners.  The  apprenticeship 
system  was  abolished  on  August  i,  1838,  and  absolute  free- 
dom established.  The  Jamaica  Assembly  protested  "  before 
God  and  man  "  against  Imperial  interference  in  their  affairs. 
The  body  was  very  sulky  for  a  year  or  two,  but  eventually  be- 
came reconciled  and  proceeded  to  business.  One  of  the  first 
acts  passed  was  to  legalize  marriages  by  Dissenting  ministers. 


JAMAICA.  319 

Asiatic  cholera  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  1850,  and 
was  exceedingly  virulent  all  over  the  island,  some  thirty-two 
thousand  persons  dying  from  the  plague.  About  the  same 
time,  another  negro  insurrection  was  rumored,  based  upon 
the  belief  of  the -peasantry  that  the  United  States  was  about 
to  take  possession  of  the  island  and  reduce  the  negroes  to 
slavery.  This  rumor  originated  in  some  articles  from  Ameri- 
can newspapers  which  referred  to  the  distressed  condition  of 
the  island,  and  the  benefit  which  would  result  from  its  annex- 
ation with  Cuba  to  the  United  States.  The  last  negro  insur- 
rection was  in  1865,  promoted  by  some  agitators  who  took 
advantage  of  the  scarcity  of  food,  following  a  severe  drought, 
to  inflame  the  passions  of  the  blacks  and  declare  a  war  of 
color.  Martial  law  was  declared  and  the  rebellion  crushed  in 
a  few  days.     The  ringleaders  were  hanged. 

This  year,  the  representative  form  of  government,  which 
had  existed  for  two  hundred  years,  was  abolished  and  the  ex- 
isting system  established — administration  by  a  Council  ap- 
pointed by  the  Crown,  eight  members  being  officials  holding 
certain  colonial  positions,  and  seven  non-ofhcial.  At  present 
there  are  no  non-ofiicial  members.  In  November,  1882,  the 
Governor,  under  instructions  from  the  Imperial  Government, 
asked  the  Council  to  pass  a  certain  appropriation,  which  the 
official  members  voted  for  and  the  unofficial  against.  It  was 
a  vote  of  eight  to  seven,  whereupon  the  unofficial  members 
resigned,  resenting  the  dictation  of  the  office-holding  power. 
Their  places  have  not  been  filled.  Jamaica  yields  to  the 
progress  of  the  age,  and  brings  the  eight  to  seven  business 
into  operation. 

The  abolished  representative  system  established  a  prop- 
erty qualification  for  voters  ;  a  $30  per  annum  freehold,  the 
receipt  of  an  annual  salary  of  $250  or  over,  the  payment  of  a 
direct  tax  to  the  amount  of  $5,  the  payment  or  receipt  of  a 


320  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

rental  of  $ioo  a  year,  or  the  possession  of  invested  money  to 
the  extent  of  $500.  At  the  last  general  election,  held  in  1863, 
1,482  electors  voted.  The  total  registry  of  votes  was  1,798, 
out  of  a  population  of  441,264.  One  person  out  of  245  was 
qualified,  one  out  of  297  voted.  In  the  same  ratio  of  qualified 
electors  to  population,  the  voting  body  of  New  York  City 
would  consist  of  less  than  five  thousand.  What  a  field  for  the 
worker  in  politics  if  there  was  but  that  number  !  How  the 
Halls  would  flourish  !  With  what  anxiety  would  the  broker 
in  votes  watch  the  tape,  for  we  would  have  a  voting  Exchange 
and  make  the  quotations  regularly.  All  business  runs  to  ex- 
changes lately.  The  man  who  could  control  his  own  vote 
would  become  a  person  of  some  consequence  in  the  com- 
munity. Now  he  is  a  nobody.  To  amount  to  anything 
politically,  you  must  let  somebody  else  control  your  vote. 
Then  every  voter  could  have  an  office,  and  the  "  big  pipes  " 
and  the  Police  and  Fire  Departments  would  lose  their  impor- 
tance as  factors  in  politics.  These  employments  would  be 
relegated  to  the  non-voters,  the  electors  could  do  better.  It 
would  be  a  political  millenium. 

Chronic  grumblers,  who  find  fault  with  our  system  be- 
cause it  is  liable  to  abuses,  as  all  systems  are,  advocate  the 
restriction  of  the  elective  franchise  by  the  establishment  of 
additional  qualifications.  Some  favor  a  property  endowment, 
some  educational  accomplishment.  Others  would  restrict 
the  franchise  to  the  natural  born  citizen.  The  only  genuine 
Americans,  by  the  way,  are  the  descendants  of  King  Philip, 
Osceola,  and  Tecumseh,  with  those  pleasant  members  of  the 
industrial  classes,  opposed  to  the  importation  of  foreign  cheap 
labor,  the  Sioux,  Comanches,  and  Modocs.  Lafayette,  Ro- 
chambeau,  Steuben,  Montgomery,  Sullivan,  Pulaski,  and  Barry 
were  blarsted  foreigners,  who  came  over  here  and  fought  the 
native   Americans,   leagued    with    the    British   in   trying   to 


JAMAICA.  321 

prevent  the  colonists  from  achieving  their  independence. 
Down  with  the  foreigners  !  put  none  but  Americans  on 
guard  !  was  the  cry  of  a  Seneca  Indian,  with  St.  I.eger  at  the 
battle  of  Oriskany,  when  he  hurled  a  tomahawk  and  knocked 
a  clay  pipe  from  the  teeth  of  Nick  Ilerchhcimer.  Hurrah 
for  Billy  Bowlegs  and  Sitting  Bull  !  What  right  has  Presi- 
dent Arthur,  the  son  of  an  Irishman,  to  occupy  the  chair  that 
belongs  to  Bear-face,  Hole-in-the-snow,  Skin-the-cat,  or  Old- 
man-afraid-of-his-mother-in-law  ?  The  President's  father  was 
a  fine  old  Irish  gentleman,  a  clergyman  and  a  scholar,  with 
the  courteous  manners  of  the  obsolete  school.  I  have  in  my 
library  a  book  which  he  wrote  on  the  derivation  of  family 
names,  which  evinces  much  erudition  and  genealogical  re- 
search. But  he  was  Irish  and  couldn't  be  President  of  the 
United  States,  so  he  left  the  office  to  his  son.  John  Kelly, 
the  chieftain  of  the  Tammany  tribe  of  Indians,  is  native  and 
to  his  manners  born,  and  is  eligible  to  the  Presidency.  He 
will  not  get  there  however.  There  are  too  many  smaller 
men  entitled  to  the  nomination  ;  for  mediocrity  seems  to  be  a 
qualification  in  these  times. 

There  are  some  who  insist  that  a  foreigner  ought  to  wait 
twenty-one  years  after  his  arrival  before  he  is  entitled  to  vote, 
because  the  native  born  has  to  remain  disfranchised  for  that 
period.  The  theory  is  that  the  male  infant  is  as  capable  of 
reading  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  when  he  enters 
the  world,  as  the  foreigner  when  he  lands  on  our  shores  : 
that  the  two-day  old  baby  of  Dorothy  Dobbins  knows  as 
much  as  Kossuth  did  when  he  reached  Castle  Garden.  It 
is  supposed,  of  course,  that  the  probationary  period  is  de- 
voted to  a  perusal  of  the  Constitution,  which  requires  twenty- 
one  years  for  its  mastery.  I  know  several  good  natives  who 
have  been  here  twice  that  length  of  time,  who  haven't  it  by 
heart  yet.    I  fear  that  there  is  great  laxity  in  the  study  of  this 


322  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE    MONTAUK. 

noble  instrument.  There  are  few,  like  my  friend  down  the 
street  (who  has  been  mentioned  for  the  Presidency,  and  I 
don't  know  any  one  who  would  make  a  more  capable  Chief 
Magistrate),  who  carry  our  Magna  Charta  around  pasted  in 
the  crown  of  the  hat,  so  that  it  will  be  always  on  the  mind. 
My  friend  often  changes  hats,  of  his  own — for  he  doesn't 
affect  old  styles — but  for  that  Constitution,  with  the  legally 
adopted  amendments,  from  time  to  time,  his  motto  is,  esto 
perpetua  ! 

The  machine  politicians  sneered  at  him  because  he  dis- 
played this  affection  for  the  charter  of  our  free  government. 
We  have  not  enough  of  respect  for  the  fundamental  law. 
There  was  some  discussion  about  the  Constitution  when  the 
hot-headed  secessionists  made  judies  of  themselves  in  1861, 
but  its  provisions  were  generally  ignored.  Respect  for  them 
now  is  contingent  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  personal 
interests  of  Courts,  and  the  exigencies  of  partisanship.  In 
our  free  land,  laws  are  made  to  be  broken,  as  witness  the 
liquor  laws  and  Sunday  ordinances,  and  other  rubbishy  en- 
actments that  leer  derisively  from  the  pages  of  the  statute- 
books.  I  except  lynch-law,  which  is  executed  with  neatness 
and  dispatch,  and  is  not  amenable  to  the  proverbial  criticism 
on  the  law's  delays. 

The  educational  qualification  implies  that  knowing  how  to 
read  and  write  is  education.  The  more  one  reads  the  news- 
papers, the  less  he  knows  about  the  definite  issues  of  a  politi- 
cal canvass.  He  learns  a  great  deal  about  the  personnel  of 
politics,  not  entirely  edifying.  The  Press  is  the  great  fog- 
compeller,  although  the  merits  of  the  Pulpit,  as  a  popular 
mystifier,  must  not  be  overlooked  in  seeking  for  the  sources 
of  muddlement. 

If  we  are  to  have  an  educational  qualification,  there  ought 
to  be  some  gauge  of  the  relative  value  of  knowledge.     It 


JAMAICA.  323 

would  be  unjust  to  clothe  the  man  who  can  barely  spell 
through  the  record  of  hangings,  suicides,  embezzlements, 
divorces,  and  indecent  assaults,  which  form  the  staple  of  use- 
ful information  for  our  children,  with  as  much  influence  as  he 
who  can  read  Euripides  in  the  ancient  Irish,  or  write  a  treatise 
on  the  Greek  roots.  By  Greek  roots,  I  do  not  intend  to 
describe  Irish  potatoes,  which,  converted  into  bone  and  mus- 
cle, do  a  great  deal  of  the  voting,  and  become  the  objects  of 
much  tender  solicitation  at  election  time.  Thus  the  voting 
should  be  cumulative,  the  learned  professor  having  a  vote 
for  each  language  in  which  he  is  versed,  the  schoolmaster — 
selected  by  partisan  Boards  of  Education — having  a  voice 
according  to  a  sliding-scale  ;  while  the  man  who  knows  Web- 
ster's Dictionary  by  heart  might  be  entitled  to  cast  a  cer- 
tain specified  number,  as  a  reward  of  merit,  say  one  hundred. 
As  for  grammar,  that  has  been  a  matter  of  no  consequence 
in  public  schools  and  Congress  for  a  long  time  past,  and  the 
grammarian  might  as  well  be  disfranchised. 

So  with  the  other  qualification.  If  the  franchise  depends 
on  the  possession  of  property,  some  standard  of  value  should 
be  fixed  so  that  there  would  be  an  equitable  representation. 
The  owner  of  one  small  dwelling-house  ought  not  to  have  as 
much  weight  in  elections  as  the  possessor  of  lands,  tenements, 
and  hereditaments,  stocks,  bonds,  and  mortgages.  This  could 
be  regulated  by  determining  the  minimum  value  of  property 
entitling  the  owner  to  a  vote.  In  view  of  the  great  wealth  of 
our  country,  perhaps  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  would  not 
be  out  of  the  way,  for,  according  to  the  franchise-reformers  it 
is  desirable  to  curtail  the  number  of  voters,  universal  suffrage 
being  liable  to  abuse  by  putting  the  poor  man  on  an  equality 
with  the  rich.  The  voting  standard  ought  to  be  relatively 
commensurate  with  the  aggregate  riches  of  the  nation.  It  is 
a  question  whether  any  one  worth  less  than  a  cool  hundred 


324  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

thousand  should  be  allowed  a  voice  in  the  government.  We 
are  such  a  rich  people.  I  don't  know  why  it  is  called  cool, 
but  that  is  the  fashionable  description.  I  know  some  chaps 
who  would  make  it  very  hot  with  that  sum  ;  who,  if  they  had 
it,  would  soon  tinge  the  town  with  warm,  crimson  hue,  I 
suggest  this  sum  because  I  am  losing  my  interest  in  politics, 
and  really  don't  care  whether  I  vote  any  more  or  not ;  I  have 
passed  the  period  of  delusion,  and  unselfishly  rule  myself  out 
in  fixing  the  minimum  voting  property  qualification.  Votes 
might  be  cast  as  they  are  in  the  election  of  trustees  of  a 
corporation,  by  shareholders,  one  vote  for  each  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  In  that  case,  Mr.  Vanderbilt  would  be 
entitled  to  two  thousand  votes,  if  the  popular  estimate  of  his 
wealth  be  correct.  I  have  some  doubt  on  this  point,  arising 
from  his  assessment  by  the  Tax  Commissioners,  which  makes 
it  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  millions  or  so  less.  Perhaps 
in  this  age  of  sham  Vanderbilt  is  merely  keeping  up  ap- 
pearances, making  a  show  of  wealth  to  get  credit  with  his 
butcher. 

But  the  question  arises,  Under  a  democratic  form  of 
government  is  the  suffrage  an  inherent  right  of  the  citizen  or 
a  privilege  ?  The  theory  under  which  we  are  acting  is  that  it 
is  inherent,  that  every  man,  howsoever  humble,  is  entitled  to 
a  voice  in  the  government  by  the  people,  of  which  he  is  an 
integrant.  There  should  be  no  caste  under  our  system.  We 
read  a  great  deal  of  nonsense  about  such  and  such  a  candi- 
date being  supported  by  the  better  classes.  Who  are  the 
better  classes  in  our  country  ?  Virtue  is  the  true  nobility. 
and  it  is  questionable  if  the  rich  are  much  more  virtuous  than 
the  poor.  I  know  it  isn't  fashionable  to  say  so,  but  in  some 
things  I  display  a  bit  of  a  crankiness — which  consists  in  think- 
ing for  one's  self  instead  of  buying  ideas  ready-made  in  the 
newspapers.     We  are  apt  to  regard  the  rich  man  as  more  in- 


JAMAICA.  325 

telligent  than  the  poor ;  the  hicky  trader,  specuhitor,  or 
thimble-rigger,  who  does  head-work,  as  endowed  with  more 
political  discrimination  than  the  artisan  or  laborer,  who  works 
with  his  hands.  This  is  a  fallacy.  The  shop-keepers  are  more 
liable  to  be  deceived  than  the  mechanics,  though  both  are 
cheated  by  the  lawyers.  Engrossed  in  business,  they  haven't 
as  much  time  to  reflect,  and  let  nevv'spapers  do  their  thinking 
for  them.  On  the  contrary,  the  laborers  think  for  them- 
selves. During  the  intervals  of  employment  they  discuss 
public  affairs  practically.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  so-called 
horse-sense  evolved  around  the  tin-pails  of  the  laboring  men 
at  their  noonday  meals.  The  operative,  who  lives  on  his 
daily  wages,  is  better  informed  regarding  the  practical  opera- 
tion of  the  tariff  and  the  natural  laws  that  affect  trade  and 
commerce  than  the  stock-broker,  with  eye  fixed  on  the 
flying  kites  of  Wall  Street,  brain  busy  inventing  lies  to  affect 
the  market,  and  fingers  employed  fumbling  in  the  pockets  of 
gullible  dealers. 

But  I  am  not  setting  up  for  a  philosopher,  or  an  adept  in 
the  mysteries  of  political  economy.  No,  indeed  !  I  have 
no  taste  for  humbug.  By  the  way,  the  derivation  of  this 
word,  so  expressive  in  its  description  of  a  potent  element  in 
society,  is  curious.  During  the  brief  reign  of  James  II.,  a 
base  coin  was  issued  from  the  Dublin  Mint,  of  such  low  in- 
trinsic value  that  the  twenty-shilling  piece  was  worth  but 
two-pence.  The  valueless  metal  was  known  among  the  Irish 
as  Uun-bogy  pronounced  humbug,  i.e.,  soft  copper,  or  worth- 
less money.  When  presented,  it  was  customary  for  those  to 
whom  it  was  offered  to  say,  "  that's  tiini-bcg,  you  can't  pass 
your  humbug  on  me."  Hence  the  word,  which  Irishmen 
understand  so  fully.  They  are  the  great  masters  of  blarney. 
I  am  often  amused  to  see  some  callow  statesman  on  the  stump, 
who  pronounces  McMahon,   McMaync,  and   O'Donoughue, 


326  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Dunnyoo,  appealing  to  Irishmen  as  a  class  politically.  How 
they  laugh  at  him  in  their  sleeves.      Uiin-bog ! 

The  insignificant  number  of  qualified  voters  during  the 
period  of  representative  government  in  Jamaica  is  accounted 
for  by  the  great  preponderance  of  poor  negroes  in  the  pop- 
ulation. The  census  of  1881  gives  the  following  classifica- 
tion : 

Blacks 444, 1 86 

Colored 109,946 

Coolies 11,016 

Chinese 99 

Unclassified 1^125 

Whites 145432 

580,804 

— 282,957  males  and  297,847  females,  only  two  and  one-half 
per  cent,  white.     The  majority  does  not  rule  in  Jamaica. 

The  island  is  divided  into  three  counties  and  fourteen 
parishes,  governed  locally  by  Boards  of  Magistrates,  There 
are  enough  whites  to  fill  all  the  offices,  with  a  small  reserve 
in  case  of  death.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  there  are  no  res- 
ignations. The  names  of  officials,  published  in  the  "  Hand- 
book," show  that  the  girls  and  young  men  "  listed  "  in  Ire- 
land, a  couple  of  centuries  ago,  did  their  duty  to  the  country. 
They  read  like  a  division-list  in  the  New  York  Board  of  Al- 
dermen, or  the  roll  of  delegates  to  a  Republican  City  Con- 
vention. 

Taxes  are  light.  The  property  tax  on  farm  lands,  culti- 
vated for  sugar,  coffee,  grain,  etc.,  is  six  cents  an  acre.  For 
inferior  lands,  the  tax  is  less.  Taverns  pay  a  license  fee  of 
$100  per  annum  in  Kingston,  and  $50  elsewhere.  Merchants 
pay  a  tax  of  $60,  storekeepers  $37.50,  while  newspaper  pro- 
prietors are  taxed  but  $7.50.     Evidently  journalism  is  not  a 


JAMAICA.  327 

lucrative  vocation,  as  it  is  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  United 
States.  The  customs  tariff  on  importations  is  divided  by  the 
schedule  into  specific  and  ad  valorem  duties.  Meats  pay 
$3-75  per  barrel,  spirits  $2,50  per  gallon,  horses  $2.50  each. 
Asses  come  in  free.  We  were  not  obliged  to  pay  duty  ; 
we  came  in  as  Dogberry.  Prohibitionists,  grecnbackers,  and 
owners  of  mining-stocks  could  be  imported  free,  but  there  is 
no  demand  for  them.  The  unenumerated  articles  pay  an  ad 
valorem  duty  of  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.  There  is  a 
large  free  list,  including  ice,  diamonds,  dogs,  sarsaparilla,  and 
mess-plate  for  army  and  navy  officers.  Some  of  the  stamp 
duties  are  heavy.  Banking  corporations  issuing  notes  pay 
$325  ;  a  barrister  on  his  admission  $75,  and  a  solicitor,  for 
his  certificate,  $500.  A  heavy  solicitor  tax  would  operate  as 
a  great  relief  to  our  country,  overcharged  by  lawyers.  We 
need  more  farmers. 

Postage  on  letters  is  four  cents  for  a  half-ounce,  if  prepaid, 
on  newspapers,  one  cent  ;  double  rates  if  not  prepaid.  The 
Public  General  Hospitals  contain  beds  for  1,100  patients. 
The  schools  are  good,  maintained  by  Government  grants,  ac- 
cording to  the  attendance.  In  1882,  there  were  53,336  pupils 
enrolled,  and  the  grants  to  schools  amounted  to  something 
like  $90,000.  The  census  of  1881  .showed  an  attendance  of 
67,408.  Of  the  inhabitants,  115,418  can  read  and  write,  115.- 
750  can  read  only. 

The  constabulary  consists  of  695  men.  The  qualification 
for  a  constable  is  that  he  must  not  be  less  than  five  feet  six 
inches  high,  and  must  measure  thirty-two  inches  around  the 
chest.  He  must  be  able  to  read  and  write.  It  is  a  semi- 
military  police  force,  but  the  constables  act  as  peace  officers 
for  the  service  of  civil  process  as  well.  There  is  a  reserve 
Rural  Police  force,  to  be  used  when  called  upon.  The  Head- 
men— one  to  every  seven  men — receive   an  annual  salary  of 


328  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

$60,  and  thirty-one  cents  a  day  when  actually  on  duty.  The 
regular  constables  are  paid  as  follows  :  Privates,  $250  ;  Cor- 
porals, $275;  Sergeants,  $320;  sub-Inspectors,  $1,000; 
First-Class  Inspectors,  $2,000,  and  the  Inspector-General, 
$4,000  per  annum.  There  were  900  persons  sentenced  to 
the  penitentiaries  in  1882,  one  to  ever  644  of  the  popula- 
tion. 

The  coolie  system,  which  I  described  in  a  letter  from 
Trinidad,  is  in  operation  here.  Of  the  13,823  coolies,  8,126 
have  completed  the  required  ten  years'  residence  and  remain 
as  colonists.  The  immigration  has  been  dwindling  for  years 
and  it  is  now  practically  ended. 

Kingston  has  a  population  of  38,566.  The  city  is  lighted 
with  gas,  which  costs  $3.75  per  M.  Water  is  abundant. 
The  taxable  rate  is  regulated  by  the  rental  value  of  the  prop- 
erty ;  the  lowest  charge  being  $7.50  per  annum,  for  a  $30 
house,  and  the  highest,  $57  for  a  $750  house.  The  cheapest 
is  allowed  to  use  lOO  gallons  a  day,  the  dearest,  1,000 
gallons. 

There  is  a  large  cemetery,  containing  forty-six  acres,  par- 
titioned off  for  the  use  of  the  several  denominations,  the 
Episcopalians  occupying  twenty-four  acres,  the  paupers  six, 
the  Roman  Catholics  five  ;  the  remaining  eleven  acres  being 
assigned  to  the  smaller  denominations.  The  divergent  re- 
ligionists (except  the  paupers,  who  are  unclassified  latitudi- 
narians)  will  start  from  different  points  in  the  cemetery,  but 
it  is  probable  they  will  all  meet  at  the  same  gate  in  Heaven. 
It  is  probable,  too,  that  he  who  left  a  towering  monument, 
uprising  from  parterres  of  glowing  flowers,  in  the  graveyard 
will  not  get  admission  any  quicker  than  the  occupant  of  the 
unmarked,  weed-covered,  sinking  mound. 

The  Church  of  England  was  formerly  endowed  in  this 
island,  but  was  disestablished  in   1870,   after  the  Irish  and 


JAMAICA.  329 

Canadian  precedents.  The  sectarian  division  of  the  popula- 
tion is  as  follows  : 

Church  of  England 1 16,224 

Baptists 82,403 

Wesleyans  and  Methodists 56,201 

Presbyterians 21,507 

Moravians 16,277 

Roman  Catholics n » '  39 

Congregationalists 5>365 

Christians 976 

Jews 2,535 

312,627 

It  would  seem,  from  the  census  returns,  that  there  are 
268,177  souls,  not  present  or  accounted  for  in  any  religious 
fold.  No  doubt  the  negro  fetich  flourishes  amid  the  cane- 
fields  and  has  many  of  these  among  its  worshipers. 

The  Roman  Catholic  religion  was  not  tolerated  in  Jamaica 
until  the  year  1792.  I  must  make  a  note  of  this,  and  ask 
somebody,  who  knows,  what  became  of  the  souls  of  those  who 
died  there  before  that  \'car.  This  calls  to  mind  the  inscrip- 
tion on  the  gate  of  a  town  in  Ireland,  noticed  by  Mrs.  Hall  in 
her  book  :  ^ 

"  May  enter  here  the  Atheist, 
Jew,  or  Tvirk,  but  no  Papist." 

Under  which  some  wit  added, 

"Whoever  wrote  these  lines,  writ  them  well, 
The  same  are  written  on  the  gates  of  h 1." 

The  addition  has  been  ascribed  to  the  caustic  Dean  Swift, 
who,  as  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  could  afford 
this  witticism  in  favor  of  Rome. 

Persons  may  become  naturalized  subjects,  under  the  act 


330  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK 

of  Charles  II.,  by  making  application  to  the  Governor,  with 
certificates  of  two  citizens  that  they  intend  to  become  bona 
fide  residents. 

The  value  of  exports  in  the  year  1882  was  $7,745,285  ; 
of  imports,  $6,610,310;  showing  a  balance  of  trade  in  favor 
of  Jamaica  of  $1,134,975.  Of  the  imports,  $2,500,000  were 
food-stuffs,  and  $2,000,000  clothing.  The  value  of  sugar  ex- 
ported was  $3,071,415,  and  rum,  $1,478,225  ;  coffee,  pi- 
mento, dye-woods,  and  fruits,  $2,500,000.  The  principal 
fruit  cultivated  is  the  banana,  although  the  orange  is  pro- 
duced in  large  quantity. 

Labor  is  cheap.  In  Jamaica  the  ordinary  wages  for  car- 
penters and  bricklayers  is  eighty  cents  a  day,  laborers  thirty- 
five  cents,  two  mules  and  a  driver,  one  dollar  eighty-seven 
cents.  Food  costs  about  the  same  as  with  us,  except  beef, 
which  is  twelve  cents  a  pound.  Salted  beef  is  twenty-one 
cents,  salt  pork  sixteen,  and  fresh  pork  eighteen  cents  a 
pound.  Clothing  is  cheap,  a  man's  felt  hat  costing  from 
sixty  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a  half,  ready-made  shoes  one  to 
two  dollars. 

Freemasonry  flourishes.  There  are  three  Grand  Lodges  : 
the  District  Grand  Lodge  of  Eastern  Jamaica,  the  Provincial 
Grand  Lodge  of  Scotland,  and  th«  Pi-ovincial  Grand  Mark  Mas- 
ter's Lodge  of  England.  Odd-fellowship  has  been  introduced 
recently  but  has  a  membership  of  but  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  Good  Templars  have  been  in  existence  for  ten  years,  and 
have  thirteen  lodges,  with  a  membership  of  eight  hundred. 
As  the  annual  product  of  rum  is  2,500,000  gallons,  this  allows 
3,200  gallons  for  each  Good  Templar  to  do  away  with. 

The  currency  is  sound,  but  one  bank,  the  Colonial,  being 
allowed  to  issue  paper  money.  The  paper  in  circulation 
amounts  to  $750,000.  There  is  one  street  railway,  which  pays 
dividends  of  twelve  per   cent,  per   annum.     These  statistics 


JAMAICA.  331 

are  obtained  mainly  from  tlic  "  Handbook  of  Jamaica,"  a  val- 
uable and  exhaustive  compilation  of  information,  from  offi- 
cial sources,  by  Messrs,  Sinclair  and  Fyfe,  published  at  the 
Government  Printing  Establishment. 

We  read  in  books  of  the  lu.xury  of  the  West  Indies,  form- 
ing an  idea  of  a  place  where  everything  grows  spontaneoush', 
where  the  white  inhabitants  loll  around,  in  cool  linen  suits, 
sucking  mint-juleps  through  a  straw,  or  swinging  in  hammocks 
fanned  by  attendant  negroes.  I  have  visited  English,  French, 
and  Dutch  islands,  and  nowhere  have  I  seen  the  evidence  of 
what  we  would  call  comfort,  except  in  Curacoa,  where  they 
don't  pretend  to  be  rich.  The  wealthy  planters,  who  for- 
merly went  North  with  their  families  during  the  summer,  and 
flashed  through  Saratoga,  with  blazing  diamonds,  in  sump- 
tuous attire  and  handsome  equipages,  spending  money  with 
lavish  hand,  are  seen  there  no  more.  They  are  rich  no 
longer.  The  low  price  of  sugar  at  present  has  something  to 
do  with  the  prevalent  impecuniosity,  but  I  imagine  that  there 
has  been  a  gradual  decay  since  the  abolition  of  sku'ery.  The 
planters  refer  mournfully  to  the  "  before  times,"  by  which 
they  describe  the  old  slave  days,  and  contrast  them  with  the 
hard  lines  of  the  present.  It  is  possible  that  the  condition  of 
the  negroes  has  been  improved  by  emancipation,  but  the 
state  of  the  owners  has  greatly  deteriorated.  Still  I  believe 
we  always  had  an  exaggerated  notion  of  West  Indian  wealth 
and  magnificence.  There  were  never  fine  habitations  on  the 
sugar  estates.  The  dwellings  are  generally  of  wood,  two 
stories  high,  the  family  apartments  in  the  upper,  and  sur- 
rounded by  bare,  uninviting  verandas.  I  fancy  that  all  the 
glowing  descriptions  of  luxury,  even  in  the  "  before  times." 
were  largely  composed  of  bosh. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

INTO   THE   GULF   OF   MEXICO. 

A  Short  Sail — Filibusters — Sirens — Sailor's  Hornpipe — The  Lone  Fish- 
erman— New  Line  to  Havana — Easter  Sunday — A  Miracle— Gulf  of 
Mexico — Gallic  Downfall — Chin -music — Havana. 

Havana,  April  17,  1884. 
On  the  afternoon  of  April  12th,  we  prepared  to  set  sail  for 
Havana,  but  before  departure  took  a  short  run  around  the 
harbor,  accompanied  by  the  U.  S.  Consul,  Mr.  Hoskinson, 
Mr.  George  Levy,  editor  of  the  Colonial  Standard,  and  Mr. 
De  Cordova,  with  their  families.  Mr.  De  Cordova,  to  whom 
we  had  letters  from  our  jolly  yachting  and  fishing  companion, 
Mr.  S.  A.  Henry,  of  New  York,  was  a  welcome  visitor  during 
many  hours  of  our  stay  in  Kingston.  He  is  a  native  of  Ja- 
maica, a  magistrate  and  capable  man  of  affairs,  who,  through 
his  New  York  relations,  is  closely  identified  with  American 
interests.  He  gave  interesting  accounts  of  several  insurrec- 
tionary movements  in  Cuba,  regarding  which  he  appeared  to 
be  peculiarly  well  informed  from  recondite  sources.  He  was 
the  consignee  of  the  ill-fated  Virginius,  which  cleared  from 
Kingston  for  Hayti,  where  she  touched,  and  then  proceeded 
to  Cuba.  The  expedition  was  frightened  away  from  the 
coast,  pursued  by  a  Spanish  gunboat,  and  the  vessel  cap- 
tured on  the  high  seas,  in  contravention  of  the  naval  comity 
of  nations.  The  filibusters  were  all  condemned  to  death  at 
Havana,  but  Mr.  De  Cordova,  in  Kingston,  was  instrumental 


INTO   THE   GULF   OF    MEXICO.  333 

in  saving  some  sixty  lives.  Fifteen  of  the  adventurers,  in- 
cluding Colonel  Ryan  and,  I  believe,  Goicuria,  had  been 
shot,  and  the  others  were  under  sentence  of  death,  when  Mr. 
De  Cordova  appealed  to  the  Commodore  commanding  the 
liritish  fleet  to  interfere.  At  his  earnest  solicitation,  the 
Commodore  telegraphed  the  Captain-General  of  Cuba,  asking 
for  a  stay  of  execution,  and  then  despatched  a  frigate  to  Ha- 
vana. The  result  was  that  the  American  filibusters  escaped 
through  English  intervention.  They  deserved  some  punish- 
ment for  their  intended  insurgency,  but  the  intervention  of 
the  British  Commodore,  at  Mr.  De  Cordova's  intercession. 
was  a  creditable,  humane  act.  England  shields  her  own  sub- 
jects, and  occasionally  stretches  a  protecting  arm  over  others  ; 
the  United  States  is  too  busy  concocting  schemes  for  par- 
tisan ascendancy  to  protect  our  citizens  abroad.  In  that  re- 
gard, as  well  as  some  others,  the  British  subject  enjoys  an 
advantage  over  the  American  citizen. 

After  the  debarkation  of  our  guests,  we  dropped  down 
toward  the  sea,  and  cast  anchor  in  Port  Ro}'al  harbor,  to  remain 
through  the  night,  ready  to  sail  in  the  morning.  I  will  say 
nothing  about  the  moon.  I  have  already  advertised  moon- 
shine enough  gratuitously.  I  venture  to  remark,  however, 
that  Madame  Cynthia  beamed  as  usual,  calmly  gracious  and 
obliging.  We  heard  the  singing  fish  again,  which  caused 
Uncle  John  to  remark  that  they  must  be  drummers  for  a 
hardware  house,  selling  saw-files  by  illustrative  cxam{)lc. 
Fancy  might  have  formed  the  submarine  lullaby  into  the 
song  the  sirens  sang,  which  was  a  puzzling  question  to  the 
ancients,  according  to  Dr.  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  I  am  not 
familiar  with  the  siren  voice,  but  if  she  was  good-looking  as 
represented,  we  would  condone  her  musical  offense  in  the 
charm  of  beauty,  and  attribute  the  grating  hoarseness  to  a 
bad  cold,  caught  by  getting  wet  feet  coming  home   from   a 


334  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

tennis  party  without  water-proof  overshoes.  Or  it  tnight 
have  been  a  melodious  mermaid.  They  were  not  noted  for 
their  musical  ability,  though  they  did  sing  sitting  on  a  rock. 
These  fascinating  denizens  of  the  deep  were  made  up  princi- 
pally of  long  hair  and  looking-glasses,  if  I  remember  aright. 
They  were  not  represented  as  wearing  hooped-skirts,  yet 
"  tilters  "  were  in  fashion  about  the  time  I  read  up  on  the 
seductive  mermaid.  I  don't  believe  in  mermaids  any  more, 
nor  have  I  much  faith  in  any  other  maids.  Strange  how  we 
lose  confidence  as  we  grow  old  and,  drifting  by  unnoticed, 
suffer  the  pangs  of  inappreciation. 

They  were  having  a  jolly  break-down  in  the  forecastle  of 
the  man-of-war  before  tattoo  sounded.  A  fiddle  scraped  out 
lilting  jig  tunes,  and  we  could  hear  the  heel-and-toe  and 
double-shuffle  of  the  sailor's  hornpipe  lashing  the  deck,  at- 
tended by  ringing  peals  of  laughter  and  obstreporous  shouts 
of  applause  as  some  notable  exhibition  of  skill  excited  en- 
thusiasm. The  exuberant  merriment  of  the  hilarious  blue- 
jackets sounded  pleasantly,  skimming  over  the  water,  and  the 
lively  melodies  still  jingled  in  the  ear  as  we  turned  in  for  the 
night. 

We  had  intended  to  sail  at  sunrise  the  next  morning, 
mais  r hoinme propose ,  and  proposals  are  not  always  accepted. 
Our  excuse  for  failing  to  carry  out  the  intention  was  that  we 
were  out  of  wind.  It  didn't  occur  to  the  sailing-master  to 
have  me  write  a  letter.  I  tried  to  raise  the  wind  by  getting 
Uncle  John  to  endorse  my  note,  but  he  declined,  saying  that 
I  couldn't  get  it  discounted  in  the^  fishing  banks  of  Port 
Royal ;  adding  sardonically  that  ordinary  banks  of  commerce 
were  institutions  intended  to  accommodate  when  you  didn't 
need  help,  and  to  shut  down  when  you  were  hard  up.  We 
had  just  breeze  enough  to  crawl  out  of  the  harbor,  and  then 
we  lay  becalmed  for  some  time,  drifting  back  with  the  tide 


INTO   THE    GULK   OF    MEXICO.  335 

until  we  feared  we  would  have  to  drop  anchor  or  ^o  ashore. 
The  popular  alternative  proposition,  Which  would  you  rather, 
or  go  a-fishing  ?  was  answered  by  our  going  a-fishing.  A 
black  fisherman  was  in  his  boat  hard  by,  and  Uncle  John,  to 
have  some  sport,  trolled  out  at  him,  in  his  gay  and  debonair 
manner,  as  if  he  were  really  enjoying  the  situation,  the 
barcarolle, 

OJi  pcscator  dell  onda, 
Fid  din , 

Vit/ii  pcscar  in  gua 

Colla  bclla  sua  barca. 

Colla  hclla  sc  nc  va, 
Fid  din,  I  in,  la. 

To  which  the  stolid  pescator  answered  gruffly,  "  I  don't  want 
none  of  your  fiddlin":  Cheese  it  !  "  Then  when  Uncle  John 
rejoined,  in  the  playful  Italian  manner  of  Plunger  Walton's 
street-uncleaning  sbirri,  "  Parmesan  is  just  the  cheese,"  the 
stultified  angler  rowed  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  }acht 
and,  producing  an  accordeon,  commenced  playing  "  Sweet 
Violets."  "  Get  out  of  that !  or  I'll  shoot  you  !  "  shouted  the 
outraged  Commodore,  whereupon  the  truculent  fish-fiend  de- 
liberately changed  the  tune,  and  started  in  on  "  See  that  my 
Grave's  kept  Green."  We  fled  from  the  deck  precipitately, 
plunged  below,  and  stopped  our  mouths  to  deafen  sound. 

After  the  departure  of  the  lone  fisherman,  we  embarked 
on  our  own  little  piscatorial  venture  and  met  with  unbounded 
unsucccss.  We  had  made  great  preparation  for  this  amuse- 
ment, and  had  shipped  as  much  tackle  as  would  have  cquij)ped 
an  expedition  searching  for  the  needle  pointing  at  the  North 
Pole.  In  the  outfit,  was  a  new  line  of  extraordinary  merit, 
from  which  great  things  were  expected,  like  the  member  of 
Congress  serving  his  first  term.  It  was  supposed  to  be  as 
tough    as    the    conscience    of  a   custom-house    broker,    but, 


336  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

launched  for  the  first  time  in  these  waters,  it  was  carried  off 
entire,  tackled  by  some  big  fish  with  a  fine  taste  for  superior 
new  lines.  Uncle  John  suggested  that  it  may  have  been  taken 
by  the  sea-serpent  to  run  a  new  line  between  Kingston  and 
Havana.  We  caught  no  fish,  but  the  one  that  carried  off  our 
line  was  a  big  one,  you  may  be  sure.  One  remarkable  thing 
about  fishing  is,  that,  like  financial  criminals,  the  big  ones 
always  get  off.  At  last  a  fine  breeze  sprang  up,  and  we 
started  westward  to  make  a  peaceful  descent  on  Cuba. 

Easter  Sunday  opened  clear  and  bright.  We  were  not 
up  early  enough  to  see  the  sun  dance,  besides,  out  of  respect 
for  Uncle  John's  religious  prejudices,  we  wouldn't  like  to 
countenance  dancing  on  the  Sabbath.  That  superstition  of 
the  sun's  dancing  for  joy  Easter  morning  is  very  beautiful. 
I  wish  I  could  believe  it  now,  as  I  did  in  childhood,  when,  at 
the  instance  of  my  warm-hearted  father  (who  freshly  pre- 
served his  youthful  traditions,  beautifying  the  dullness  and 
smoothing  the  asperities  of  life,  tinging  his  long  course  with 
fanciful,  softening  embellishment),  I  used  to  get  up  at  sun- 
rise, and,  gazing  intently  at  the  wavering  atmospheric  re- 
fraction, imagine  that  I  could  .see  the  sun  dance.  But  it 
wasn't  a  puritanical  sun  he  showed  me.  He  had  no  connec- 
tion with  that  concern.  That  sober,  steady-going,  practical, 
unsentimental  luminary  wouldn't  indulge  in  festal  prancing 
around  the  horizon  on  the  Lord's  Day. 

We  had  an  Easter  miracle  of  our  own  for  home  consump- 
tion. The  large  chicken-coop  on  deck  that  carried  a  full 
assortment  of  fowls  when  we  left  New  York,  showed  a 
gradual  diminution  as  we  proceeded,  until  now  there  was 
left  but  one  hen  and  a  venerable  old  cock.  Looking  into  the 
coop  when  we  came  on  deck,  we  espied  an  egg,  the  first  one 
laid  during  the  whole  voyage.  It  was  a  strange  coincidence 
that  the  only  egg  laid  was  on  Easter  day.     I   have  indulged 


INTO   THE    GULF   OF   MEXICO.  337 

some  fancies  in  these  letters,  which  must  not  be  accepted 
literally,  but  the  facts  stated  are  strictly  accurate,  and  I  state 
as  a  fact  now  that  the  hen  actual!)'  laid  that  ci^g  Master  Sun- 
day morning.  It  formed  part  of  the  breakfast  dish  of  ham 
and  eggs  appropriate  to  the  day.  It  was  a  fresh  cq<^,  too, 
although  laid  on  salt  ocean  brine.  Nor  was  the  miracle 
manufactured  to  order,  like  some  marvels,  such  as  the 
sacred  exhalations  from  the  cave  at  Delphi — which  I  believe 
were  produced  by  moonshiners  distilling  whisky  illicitly 
under  ground  to  evade  the  internal  revenue  tax — but  a 
genuine  manifestation,  produced  without  human  agcnc^^  Yet, 
like  all  truths  impugned  by  imitative  falsehood,  a  heretical 
forgery  made  its  appearance  to  throw  discredit  on  the  \eri- 
table  miracle.  After  breakfast,  an  egg  was  found  in  the  cage 
of  one  of  Uncle  John's  troopials,  nearly  as  large  as  the  bird 
himself,  with  a  cochineal-colored  shell  nnd,  ynira/'i/c  t^/ct!/ / 
hard-boiled.  The  Commodore  accounted  for  this  last  pecu- 
liarity by  saying  that,  as  it  was  hot  weather,  it  might  be  the 
habit  of  tropical  birds  to  lay  boiled  eggs.  It  was  undoubt- 
edly a  simulated  miracle.  When  I  was  a  boy,  engaged 
in  the  trade  of  butting  eggs  at  Paas,  I  often  saw  invincible 
butters  of  porcelain  and  glazed  chalk  cause  havoc  among 
honest,  thin-shelled  adversaries.  I  suppose  the  porcelains 
came  from  Shanghai,  or  were  Cochin-China's  perhaps. 

No  ICaster  lilies  were  aboard  with  which  to  garnish  the 
table,  but  the  lily  of  memory  decked  our  backward  glance 
with  pure  white  petals.  We  made  many  surmises  as  to  the 
state  of  the  weather  in  New  York,  kindh^  hoping  that  the 
sun  beamed  propitiously  on  Fifth  Avenue,  to  enable  the 
ladies  to  wear  their  Spring  bonnets,  for  which  devout  reward 
and  culmination  of  Lenten  self-denial  the  festival  of  ICaster 
was  instituted.  In  honor  of  the  holiday  of  new  clothing, 
Uncle    John    appeared    in    a    virgin    cravat    of    immaculate 


338  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

white  silk,  quaintly  embroidered  with  delicate  flowers  of 
spring  time.  The  more  prosaic  Commodore  ordered  for  dinner 
potage  a  la  printaniere.     I  read  the  Bible. 

Being  of  an  argumentative  habit  on  board  the  Montauk,  and 
harboring  antagonistic  views  on  nearly  every  topic  advanced, 
except  on  the  question  of  frequent  eating  and  drinking,  we 
engage  in  prolonged  discussions  during  the  long  hours  of 
sailing,  particularly  on  Sundays,  when  games  are  intermitted. 
One  prolific  theme,  upon  which  there  is  an  irreconcilable  dif- 
ference of  opinion,  is  the  question  of  Sunday  observance  ; 
regarding  which  I  hold  the  views  that  prevail  in  continental 
Europe,  while  Uncle  John  steadfastly  adheres  to  the  tradi- 
tional puritanical  idea  which  obtains  in  America.  Some  pun- 
gent criticism  of  our  vicious  conduct  in  attending  the  Opera, 
Sunday  night  at  Martinique,  opened  up  a  wide  field  of  de- 
bate, which  we  planted  thickly  with  words,  until  I  flattered 
myself  I  sowed  up  Uncle  John.  He  said  it  was  because  my 
lack  of  veneration  was  harrowing  to  him,  but  I  knew  it  was 
because  I  raked  up  too  many  authorities.  But  what  we  said 
will  fill  a  letter,  and  I  shall  issue  an  extra  containing  our  argu- 
ments, v/hich  I  will  forward  when  I  find  time. 

About  midnight  of  April  i6th,  we  made  the  light  of  Cape 
Antonio,  and,  after  keeping  on  our  course  with  it  in  view  for 
some  hours,  jibed  and  entered  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  We  had 
sailed  the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
and  fine  water  it  is  to  sail  in,  with  the  trade-winds  to  keep 
along  gently,  but  it  is  said  to  be  nasty  in  a  storm.  We  had 
no  curiosity  about  that,  however,  being  satisfied  with  our 
tempestuous  experience  in  the  Gulf  Stream.  If  I  were  a  bet- 
ting man,  I  would  back  the  Gulf  against  the  Sea  for  any 
amount  within  my  means,  a  couple  of  millions  in  mining 
stocks,  or  the  equivalent  in  cash,  say  a  dollar  and  a  half,  if 
that  would  suit.     Here  we  bade  adieu  to  the  sedate  trade- 


INTO   THE   GULF   OF   MEXICO.  339 

winds,  entertaining  a  very  high  opinion  of  them,  which  had 
improved  on  acquaintance,  for  our  first  interview  was  unsatis- 
factory and  turbulent,  through  the  interference  of  meddle- 
some mountain  breezes,  which  made  irruptions  from  the 
pugnacious  Carib  islands. 

We  expected  to  reach  Havana  by  daybreak,  but  soon  af- 
ter entering  the  Gulf  the  wind  died  out,  like  an  asthmatic 
breath,  and  we  lay  becalmed  all  night.  Nor  was  it  an\'  bet- 
ter in  the  morning  ;  there  was  hardly  air  enough  to  ripple 
the  surface  of  the  water,  and  when  the  land  breeze  did  come, 
in  intermittent  puffs,  it  was  dead  ahead,  and  we  were  com- 
pelled to  beat  about  in  desultory,  futile  wanderings.  Super- 
stition might  have  attributed  the  thwarting  winds  to  the 
vengeful  deities,  who  resented  the  sacrifice,  to  ignoble  chicken- 
soup,  of  the  brave  old  cock,  whose  clarion  notes  had  defied 
the  shrieking  winds  clamoring  for  our  destruction  during  the 
gale-y  days  (forgive  me  ;  it  is  Uncle  John's)  of  our  first  week 
of  the  cruise.  Among  the  Symbols  of  Pythagoras,  was  one 
that  advised  the  breeding  of  a  cock  but  forbade  its  sacrifice, 
for  it  was  sacred  to  the  sun  and  moon.  J5ut  our  steward  is 
not  a  disciple  of  Pythagoras,  although,  in  conjunction  with 
the  cook,  he  devotes  himself  to  much  close  contemplation  of 
the  demands  of  our  esoteric  philosophy. 

This  mature  bird  was  the  last  occupant  of  the  coop,  that 
had  left  New  York  with  a  large  and  highly  respectable  family, 
all  related  by  marriage,  but  had  gradually  fallen  into  a  de- 
cline before  the  consumption  of  the  saloon,  until  at  last  this 
tough  old  cock  trode  alone  the  banquet  coop  deserted.  It 
was  too  bad  to  slay  the  gallant  trumpeter.  Through  all  the 
roarings  of  the  gale,  while  we  lay  imprisoned  below,  his 
voice  was  heard  every  morning  on  deck,  boldly  proclaiming 
his  contempt  of  danger,  confidently  expressing'  his  opinion 
that  it  wasn't  much  of  a  blow,  and  singing  hearty  canticles, 


340  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

cheerful  and  reassuring  amid  the  din  of  elemental  battle. 
But  the  corn  gave  out  and  the  poor  cock  lost  his  corn  crop. 
There  was  plenty  of  corn-juice  aboard,  but  he  was  a  practical 
teetotaler  and  drank  nothing  but  cold  water,  and  so  fell  a 
victim  to  unreasonable  prejudice.  He  died  a  game  cock,  his 
last  crow  was  delivered  in  the  face  of  the  steward,  a  moment 
before  the  wringing  of  his  defiant  neck.  Uncle  John  said  the 
sound  would  haunt  us  as  we  sipped  the  soup  into  which  the 
cock  would  be  resolved  at  dinner — in  fact,  we  would  be  eating 
crow.  The  Commodore  commented  philosophically  that  it 
might  be  a  useful  tentative  exercise  of  our  palates  for  the  ap- 
proaching Presidential  election.  Uncle  John  unfeelingly  per- 
petrated a  number  of  bad  puns  on  this  bird.  The  worst,  by 
all  odds,  was  the  query,  whether  cock-crows  by  any  other 
name  would  sound  as  sweet  ?  The  invincible  Major  Domino 
is  becoming  unendurable.  Fortunately  we  shall  be  in  New 
York  ere  long.  I  only  give  this  specimen  of  verbal  atrocity 
to  show  the  depth  of  depravity  one  may  reach  by  unre- 
strained indulgence  in  the  punning  propensity. 

It  was  tedious  drifting  along  the  coast  waiting  for  the 
land  breeze,  but  at  last  it  came  out,  with  a  favoring  slant,  and 
shortly  after  noon  we  entered  the  sluggish  harbor  of  Havana. 
No  salute  was  fired  as  we  passed  surly  Morro  Castle.  If  the 
ignorant  commandant  of  that  fortress  had  known  that  the 
Montauk  was  bearing  proudly  on  her  deck  the  feu  Foreman 
of  29  Hose,  he  would  have  refused  to  salute  just  the  same. 
Notwithstanding  their  vaunted  punctilio,  these  overbearing 
Spanish  soldiers  are  strangely  unobservant  in  the  payment 
of  honors  to  the  manes  of  the  old  Volunteer  Fire  Department 
of  New  York. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

SUNDAY  vs.   SABBATH. 

Exordium — The  Decalogue — The  Sabbalh — Douay  vs.  King  James — 
The  Gospels — Sunday — Constantine — The  Reformation — Luther, 
Calvin,  Melancthon — Augsburg  Confession — Queen  Elizabeth — Old 
Puritans — New  England- -Modern  Puritans — The  Legal  Sabbalh — 
Rest  and  Recreation — Eaith — Peroration. 

At  Sea. 
"  What  is  your  proposition  regarding  our  visit  to  the  Opera 
at  Martinique,  Sunday  evening  ?  "  I  asked  Uncle  John. 

"  I  say,"  he  rephed,  "that  it  was  a  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath  day,  which  we  arc  commanded  to  keep  holy,  and 
there  is  no  holiness  about  a  negro  theatre." 

*' liut  I  deny  your  premise,"  I  rejoined,  "how  do  you 
prove  that  Sunday  is  the  Sabbath  ?  "  Mere  my  interlocutor 
took  down  the  Bible,  which  is  conveniently  at  hand  (indeed 
it  was  the  first  book  brought  aboard  the  yacht,  and  is  not  the 
least  read  of  the  numerous  volumes  in  the  library),  and  re- 
cited, with  solemn  emphasis,  from  Exodus  xx.,  8-11. 

8.  Remember  the  sabbath  day  ;  to  keep  it  holy. 

9.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all  thy  work  : 

10.  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy 
God  :  /;/  //  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou  nor  thy  son, 
nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-serwtnt,  nor 
thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates  : 

11.  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the 
sea,  and  all  that  in  them  ts,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  : 
wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it. 


342  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

"  There,"  said  the  Sabbath  advocate,  "  can  anything  be 
clearer  or  more  expHcit  ?  We  are  commanded  to  remember 
and  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day,  and  to  do  no  work  on  the 
day  hallowed  by  the  Lord.  Perhaps,  though,  you  will  re- 
ject the  authority  of  the  Protestant  version  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures from  which  I  quote." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  I,  "  I  will  consent  to  your  putting  in  evi- 
dence the  King  James'  translation,  although,  since  its  first 
publication,  in  i6ii,  it  has  been  altered  and  amended  several 
times  in  numerous  conflicting  editions  ;  while  the  authentic 
Douay  version,  issued  by  the  English  College  at  Rheims 
(the  New  Testament  in  1582,  and  the  Old  in  1610)  has  not 
been  changed,  save  in  adopting  the  modernizations  of  lan- 
guage, conforming  to  current  etymology  without  altering  the 
sense,  or  necessitating  revised  interpretation.  They  are  so 
nearly  alike,  however,  that  I  am  not  biblical  reader  enough 
to  distinguish  between  them,  and  only  see  the  differences 
when  they  are  pointed  out  by  some  one  with  more  scriptural 
information.  I  prefer  the  Douay,  which  I  regard  as  more 
accurate,  to  the  King  James',  which  is  spurious  to  some  ex- 
tent, for  frequent  emendation  has  been  required  to  correct  its 
errors.  As  a  matter  of  taste,  too,  I  like  a  bible  in  which  the 
Almighty  is  addressed  as  Our  Father  '  who  '  art  in  Heaven 
to  one  that  says  *  which  ;  '  to  say  nothing  of  the  ascription, 
'  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,'  etc.,  in  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
which  is  surplusage,  an  interpolation,  and  has  no  right 
there.  I  think  the  Douay  is  written  in  better  English. 
The  King  James'  translators  seemed  to  aim  at  making 
their  version  different  from  the  older  one,  even  at  the 
sacrifice  of  diction.  They  sometimes  employed  metonymy 
to  avoid  tautology,  as  in  the  substitution  of  '  Grave '  for 
'  Death  ' — *  O  Grave  !  where  is  thy  victory  ?  '  I  think  the 
word  Death,  used  in  the  Douay  version,  preferable.     Still, 


SUNDAY   7-S.    SABBATH.  343 

if  I  don't  like  it,  perhaps   I   had  better  get  up  a  bible  of  my 

own. 

"  Argumentatively,  then,  I  will  employ  the  King  James' 

version,  and  quote  from  it  in  turn. 

"  The  day  of  the  week  designated  in  the  Decalogue  is  the 
seventh,  commonly  known  as  Saturda\',  and  observed  by  the 
Jews  as  the  Sabbath,  according  to  the  Old  Dispensation.  Tiie 
Lord's  Day  of  Christians,  establislied  to  commemorate  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  is  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  commonly  called  Sunday,  adopting  heathen  nomencla- 
ture. Now,  waiving,  for  the  time  being,  the  point  that  the 
Sabbath  was  abrogated  by  the  New  Dispensation,  I  claim 
that  the  day  of  rest  mentioned  in  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  the  Lord's  Day  of  the  Church,  are  two  separate  and  dis- 
tinct divisions  of  time,  one  occurring  on  Saturday  the  other 
on  Sunday.  Let  me  read  from  the  Bible  (and  don't  get  off 
the  old  joke  about  the  devil  quoting  scripture)  ;  I  cite  the 
four  evangelists  to  prove  the  exact  concurrence  of  language 
in  describing  the  day  of  resurrection  which  Christians  keep 
as  the  Lord's  Day. 

S.  Matthew,  chapter  xxviii.  i  :  In  the  end  of  the  sabbath, 
as  it  began  to  dawn  toward  the  first  (/crj'  of  the  week,  came 
Mary  Magdalene,  and  the  other  Mary,  to  see  the  sepulchre. 

S.  Mark,  chapter  xvi.  i  :  And  when  the  sabbath  was 
passed  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary  the  inotlur  of  James,  and 
Salome,  had  bought  sweet  spices,  that  they  might  come  and 
anoint  him. 

2.  And  very  early  in  the  morning,  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  they  came  unto  the  sepulchre  at  the  rising  of  the 
sun. 

S.  Luke,  chapter  xxiv.  i  :  Now  upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  very  early  in  the  morning,  they  came  unto  the  sepul- 
chre, bringing  tlie  spices  which  they  had  prepared,  and  certain 
others  with  them. 


344  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

S.  John,  chapter  xx.  i  :  The  first  day  of  the  week  com- 
eth  Mary  Magdalene  early,  when  it  was  yet  dark,  unto  the 
sepulchre,  and  seeth  the  stone  taken  away  from  the  sepulchre. 

"  You  will  not  dispute  that  Christ  rose  from  the  dead  on 
'CiXQ  first  day  of  the  week  ;  and  that  it  was  not  the  Sabbath  day 
is  demonstrated  by  the  text  of  Matthew,  '  In  the  end  of  the 
sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn  ;  '  and  in  Mark,  *  And  when  the 
sabbath  day  was  passed.'  It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  day  of 
resurrection  was  the  one  following  the  Sabbath,  and  it  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  Sabbath  itself.  If  we  commemo- 
rate the  resurrection,  we  keep  Sunday,  the  first  day  of  the 
week  ;  if  we  observe  the  Sabbath,  according  to  the  mandate 
of  the  Old  Dispensation,  we  keep  Saturday,  the  seventh  day, 
with  the  Jews,  We  cannot  mix  them,  unless  it  is  possible  to 
be  Christian  and  Jew  at  the  same  time,  which  is  the  inconsist- 
ent attempt  of  the  Puritan." 

"  But,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  the  Sabbath  has  been  changed 
by  Christians  from  the  seventh  day  to  the  first,  and  we  are 
bound  to  the  same  observance  though  a  different  day  is  desig- 
nated ;  it  is  the  Christian  Sabbath." 

"  Who  changed  it  ?  "  I  inquired.  "  Show  me  the  au- 
thority !  I  challenge  you  to  point  out  a  line  in  the  New 
Testament  that  authorizes  the  substitution,  or  makes  provi- 
sion for  any  particular  day  to  be  observed.  If  the  Sabbath 
was  done  away  with,  no  other  day  was  substituted  in  Holy 
Writ.  If  it  was  not  abolished,  then  we  are  bound  to  ob- 
serve the  seventh  day,  or  Saturday,  in  order  to  obey  literally 
the  command  given  to  Moses.  If  the  Lord  set  apart  the 
seventh  day,  what  human  power  can  change  a  Divine  ordin- 
ance ?  But  even  in  the  manner  of  recognition,  it  is  recorded 
that  our  Saviour  rebuked  the  pharisaical  strictness  that  ob- 
tained among  the  Jews,  which  was  probably  a  perversion,  by 
sectaries,  of  the  original  ordinance  establishing  a  day  of  rest 


SUNDAY   I'S.    SABBATH.  345 

from  labor ;  which  is  a  natural  requirement  for  the  preser- 
vation of  health  and  maintenance  of  the  well-being  of  man- 
kind." 

"  Ah,  there's  where'  I  have  you,''  said  Uncle  John  ;  "  you 
argue  against  a  sabbath  day,  and  yet  you  acknowledge  the 
necessity  for  setting  apart  every  seventh  day  for  rest  from 
work." 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  said  I  ;  "I  believe  in  it  as  a  sanatory 
measure,  for  in  no  other  way  can  salutary  regulations  of  this 
nature  be  enforced  so  efficaciously  as  by  making  them  matters 
of  religion.  I  repeat,  however,  that  the  Sabbath  as  a  religi- 
ous enactment  was  repealed  by  implication  in  the  New  Dis- 
pensation, and  that  there  is  no  analogous  character  to  it  in 
the  festival  of  the  Lord's  Day,  established  for  the  first  time 
in  the  fourth  century.  There  is  no  Christian  Sabbath,  but 
there  is  a  Christian  Lord's  Day.  A  Christian  Sabbath  is  a 
Jewish  Sunday — white  blackbird." 

"  The  gravamen  of  your  argument  is  that  Christians  are 
obliged  to  recognize  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath  Day  of  the  Old 
Testament.  This  I  deny.  You  cannot  produce  one  jot  or  one 
tittle  of  evidence  to  substantiate  the  claim,  unless  it  be  some 
unauthentic  human  invention.  The  point  is,  whether  Chris- 
tians are  bound  to  observe  Sunday  after  the  morose  manner 
of  the  Sabbath  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  or  whether  it 
should  be  regarded,  as  was  the  original  intention,  simply  as  a 
day  of  religious  worship  and  abstention  from  labor,  of  rest, 
recreation,  and  innocent  enjoyment.  The  puritanical  Sunday 
(misnamed  the  Sabbath)  is  an  attempt  to  judaize  Christianity. 

"  It  is  supposed  that  for  the  first  three  centuries  after  the 
death  of  our  Saviour,  Christians  were  in  the  habit  of  assem- 
bling for  worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  in  the  cata- 
combs of  Rome  and  elsewhere  ;  but  it  was  not  a  regular 
custom,  nor  was  there  any  formulated  ordinance  enjoining  it. 


346  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

Indeed,  so  far  from  its  assuming  the  Jewish  features,  the 
Lord's  Day  was  estabhshed  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
Christians  from  observing  the  Sabbath,  for,  through  the  lack 
of  a  day  to  replace  it,  they  were  relapsing  into  Judaism  and 
kept  the  Sabbath  with  the  Jews.  In  order  to  check  this  re- 
trocession, the  Emperor  Constantine,  in  the  j^ear  321,  issued 
an  edict  in  which  he  enjoined  rest  from  labor  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week.  It  will  be  observed,  by  the  text  of  his  edict, 
that  he  does  not  style  it  the  Lord's  Day,  but  Dies  solis,  the 
heathen  designation,  prefixing  venerabilis,  calling  it  the 
venerable  day  of  the  sun  ;  which  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion 
that  he  had  not  entirely  abandoned  the  heathenish  ideas 
entertained  before  his  miraculous  conversion  to  Christianity, 
but  that  the  recognition  involved  in  the  name  showed  a  linger- 
ing affection  for  the  rites  performed  on  that  day  in  honor  of 
Apollo.  The  title  Lord's  Day  was  given  afterward  by  the 
Church.      Here  is  the  text  : 

Imp  er  at  or  Constatitms  Atig.  Hclpidio. 

Omnes  jiidiccs  tirbaiKsqiic  plebcs  et  cnnctaruui  artinin 
officia  vencrabili  die  Solis  qiiiescant. 

"  '  On  the  venerable  day  of  the  Sun  let  the  magistrates  and 
people  residing  in  cities  rest,  and  let  all  workshops  be  closed.' 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  the  absolute  obligation  was  imposed 
only  on  residents  of  cities.  He  then  adds  the  qualification, 
which  constitutes  the  residue  of  the  document  : 

"  '  In  the  country,  however,  persons  engaged  in  the  work 
of  cultivation  may  freely  and  lawfully  continue  their  pursuits, 
because  it  often  happens  that  another  day  is  not  so  suitable 
for  grain-sowing  or  for  vine-planting  ;  lest  by  neglecting  the 
proper  moment  for  such  operations  the  bounty  of  Heaven 
should  be  lost.  Given  the  second  day  of  March.  Crispus 
and  Constantius  being  Consuls  each  of  them  for  the  second 
time.' 


SUNDAY   VS.    SABBATH.  347 

"  Some  Christians  resented  this  prohibition  of  work  as  a 
yielding  to  Jewish  Sabbatarianism,  and  lamented  the  innova- 
tion, which  they  regarded  as  a  concession  prejudicial  to 
Christianity,  as  opening  the  door  to  further  innovations.  As 
there  was  no  Sabbath  before  Moses,  there  was  no  Lord's  Day 
before  Constantine.  The  writings  of  the  early  Fathers  of 
the  Church  abound  in  warnings  to  Christians  against  sab- 
batizing  the  Lord's  Day.  The  Sabbath,  perverted  by  the 
Pharisees  and  fanciful  Rabbins,  was  a  sombre  fast,  the  Sun- 
day of  the  Christians,  a  cheerful  feast  or  holy-day,  Cyril, 
Bisliop  of  Jerusalem,  says,  'Turn  thou  not  out  of  the  way 
unto  Samaritanism  or  Judaism.  For  Jesus  Christ  hath  re- 
deemed thee  henceforth.     Reject  all  observance  of  Sabbath." 

"  After  the  Protestant  Reformation,  the  early  reformers  did 
not  adopt  the  sabbatical  view.  Luther  kicked  a  foot-ball  in 
front  of  the  church  after  service,  and  John  Knox,  visiting 
Calvin,  at  Geneva,  on  the  Lord's  Day,  found  him  playing  at 
bowls  on  the  village  green.  The  Augsburg  Confession, 
framed  by  Melancthon,  with  Luther's  assistance,  which  pro- 
mulgated the  Protestant  rule  of  faith,  said,  '  Those  who  judge 
that  in  the  place  of  the  Sabbath  the  Lord's  Day  was  instituted 
as  a  day  to  be  necessarily  observed,  are  greatly  mistaken. 
Scripture  abrogated  the  Sabbath  and  teaches  that  all  the 
Mosaic  ceremonies  may  be  omitted  now  that  the  Gospel  is 
revealed.  And  yet,  forasmuch  as  it  was  needful  to  appoint  a 
certain  day  that  the  people  might  know  when  to  assemble 
together,  it  appears  that  the  Church  destined  the  I-ord's  Day 
for  that  purpose.  The  day  seems  to  have  rather  pleased 
them,  in  order  that  men  might  have  thereby  a  proof  of  Chris- 
tian liberty,  and  know  that  the  observance,  whether  of  the 
Sabbath  or  of  the  other  day,  was  not  a  matter  of  necessity.' 

"  What  does  the  modern  Sabbatarian  say  to  this  authen- 
tic exposition  of  faith  ? 


348  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

"  In  one  of  the  Queen's  Injunctions,  during  the  reign  of 
Good  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  a  most  godly  exterminator 
of  popery,  Sunday  is  classed  with  other  holidays,  and  it  is 
stated  that  '  if  for  any  scrupulosity  or  grudge  of  conscience 
some  should  superstitiously  abstain  from  working  on  those 
days  ;  they  shall  grievously  offend.'  She  granted  a  license 
to  one  John  Seconton  to  use  certain  plays  and  games  on  nine 
several  Sundays. 

"  Fifty  years  afterward,  King  James,  who  gave  his  name 
to  the  version  of  the  Bible  accepted  by  Protestants,  issued 
the  '  Book  of  Sports,'  by  which  persons  were  allowed  after 
church  time  on  Sundays  to  cultivate  athletic  games  and  pur- 
sue such  pastimes  as  were  not  in  themselves  unlawful. 

"  This  '  Book  of  Sports  '  was  one  of  the  causes  that  im- 
pelled the  brave,  austere,  hard-headed,  narrow-minded,  strong- 
willed  puritans,  who  were  attempting  to  permeate  Christianity 
with  Judaism  (going  far  beyond  what  the  first  reformers  con- 
templated in  their  secession  from  the  Church  of  Rome),  to 
the  exodus  from  England,  that  has  made  such  a  prominent 
mark  on  the  history  of  the  world,  and  fashioned  materially 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  American  people.  The 
strength  of  harsh,  vigorous,  uncompromising  puritanism  is 
found  in  the  sabbatical  influence  that  pervades  all  creeds  in 
Great  Britain  and  America,  even  the  Roman  Catholic  yield- 
ing to  it  somewhat  in  the  outward  Sunday  aspect. 

"  Sabbatarianism  was  first  firmly  founded  by  the  puritans 
of  Scotland,  but  the  English  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower 
were  quite  as  fully  imbued  with  fanaticism  as  that  gloomy 
sect.  The  Blue  Laws  of  the  New  England  colonies,  which 
forbade  one  to  travel,  cook  victuals,  make  beds,  sweep  house, 
cut  hair  or  shave,  to  run  or  walk  in  his  garden  on  the  Sab- 
bath day  {i.e.,  Sunday)  are  familiar  to  the  general  reader." 

"  This  is  quite  a  fine  lecture,"  said  Uncle  John,  as  I  stopped 


SUNDAY   Z'S,  SABBATH.  349 

for  breath,  "  and  shows  that  you  have  been  reading  up  on 
the  subject." 

"  Yes,"  I  rejoined,  "  I  beHeve  in  reading  up  on  every  sub- 
ject, and  there  is  nothing  more  interesting  and  profitable 
than  pursuing  the  subject  of  rehgious  divisions,  for  the  his- 
tory of  peoples  and  governments  hinges  upon  them.  And 
there  is  nothing  about  which  the  public  knows  so  little.  If 
there  is  any  one  thing  more  than  another  in  which  ignorance 
is  displayed  it  is  on  this  question  of  Sunday  i>s.  Sabbath. 
There  is  such  a  confounding  of  the  diverse  institutions,  the 
antagonistic  cheerful  feast  and  groaning  fast,  the  sunshine  of 
Christianity  and  the  shadow  of  Judaism,  that  it  is  hard  to 
make  those  who  have  not  studied  the  matter  understand  the 
difference  between  them.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  how- 
ever, when  we  consider  that  a  great  majority  of  our  church- 
goers in  cities  are  utterly  uninformed  upon  the  tenets  of  the 
particular  church  they  attend,  and  are  quite  indifferent  to 
them,  changing  from  church  to  church,  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  fashion,  or  the  attractions  of  eloquent  pulpit  oratory 
and  fine  music. 

"  Dr.  Hussey,  a  learned  divine  of  the  Church  of  England, 
dehvered  a  series  of  lectures  in  the  Brampton  course,  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  in  which  he  took  the  view  herein  advanced, 
treating  the  subject  exhaustively,  fortifying  his  position  with 
an  impregnable  array  of  extracts  from  Holy  Writ  and  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  sustained  irrefutably 
by  history,  sacred  and  profane." 

"  Admitting  all  you  have  said  to  be  true,"  said  Uncle 
Jolin,  "and  I  do  not  question  the  credibility  of  the  authori- 
ties you  cite,  which  are  apparently  authentic,  what  would 
you  have  ?  Would  you  exchange  our  quiet,  orderly,  de- 
corous, American  Sabbath  (a  misnomer,  it  may  be)  for  the 
European  Sunday,  with  its  unrestrained  license  ?  " 


350  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

"  I  shall  not  answer  that  question  categorically,"  I  re- 
plied. "  I  desire  to  make  an  explanation,  in  which  I  confess 
that  I  prefer  our  method,  with  some  relaxations  and  unloos- 
ing of  unreasonable  and  inoperative  restrictions.  I  have 
always  been  used  to  it,  and  will  admit  that  the  prejudices  of 
my  early  quasi-puritanical  training  were  shocked  by  what  I 
saw  on  Sundays  in  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  Europe.  As 
I  have  before  observed,  the  strength  of  puritanism  is  mani- 
fested by  the  sabbatical  tinge  it  has  imparted  to  the  numerous 
ramifications  of  religious  sects  in  the  United  States  ;  as  the 
Frenchman  described  it,  a  country  with  a  hundred  religions 
and  only  one  sauce.  Even  non-religionists  are  affected  by  it. 
The  man  who  professes  no  creed,  who  sympathizes  with  the 
wide-spread  infidelity  which  prevails  among  the  people,  re- 
jecting not  only  sects  and  denominations,  but  the  authority 
of  revelation,  is  scrupulous  in  observing  Sunday  as  the  Sab- 
bath. He  denies  the  divinity  of  Christ,  but  will  not  play 
billiards  on  Sunday  ;  he  says  there  is  no  revealed  religion, 
but  he  shrinks  from  base-ball  on  the  American  Sabbath.  I 
answered  just  now,  that  I  preferred  the  sober,  devout  appear- 
ance of  the  American  Sunday  ;  but,  in  a  religious  point  of 
view,  I  fear  it  is  dangerous  to  Christianity,  because  illogical. 
There  is  no  logic  in  appealing  to  Jewish  authority  to  enforce 
a  Christian  regulation.  Faith  shaken  in  one  thing  becomes 
weak  in  another.  Falsus  in  imo.  There  is  a  certain  amount 
of  common  sense  in  faith,  and  it  is  not  common  sense  to  quote 
what  the  Lord  commanded  to  Moses,  about  one  day,  to  com- 
pel obedience  to  an  edict  of  Constantine  regarding  another. 
This  stubborn  ramming  down  the  throat  a  mere  assertion 
without  proof  is  calculated  to  promote  unbelief,  and  its  effect 
is  visible  in  the  growing  skepticism  of  the  American  people. 
Our  Sunday  is  the  shadow  without  the  substance  ;  it  is  the 
hypocritical  semblance  of  lost  faith  ;  the  lingering  odor  of  de- 


SUNDAY   VS.  SABBATH.  35 1 

parted  sanctity.  The  old  puritan  believed  what  he  preached, 
the  modern  preaches  what  he  doesn't  believe.  The  old  bigot 
had  faith,  the  modern  pretender  has  unbelief. 

"  Our  Sunday  observance  is  a  remnant  of  the  theocratic 
system,  the  jumbling  of  spiritual  and  temporal,  the  civil  and 
religious,  which  marked  the  semi-patriarchal  government  of 
small  communes  in  colonial  days  ;  a  republican  despotism. 
The  clergyman  denounces  from  the  pulpit  desecrations  of  the 
Sabbath,  upon  which  he  invokes  Divine  wrath,  and  then  calls 
on  the  constable  with  a  warrant  from  the  justice  of  the  peace 
to  enforce  the  Decalogue.  It  is  a  curious  mingling  of  the 
heavenly  and  the  earthly. 

"  The  particular  object  of  modern  ecclesiastical,  denuncia- 
tory fulmination  seems  to  be  the  vendor  of  beverages.  The 
clergyman  will  preach  his  Sunday  sermon  with  the  clatter  of 
railroad-building,  of  shovel  and  pickaxe,  filling  the  church  un- 
noticed, but  if  somebody,  a  mile  away,  gently  fills  a  glass  of 
beer  for  a  thirsty  traveler,  his  offense  is  rank  and  smells  to 
heaven  for  vengeance.  It  ought  to,  if  he  sells  beer  made  of 
glucose  and  aloes,  instead  of  malt  and  hops.  Six  days  shalt 
thou  labor  in  selling  lager,  but  thou  shalt  cut  off  the  tap  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week.  We  may  peddle  milk,  sell  cigars, 
chop  meat,  or  dish  out  ice-cream  on  Sunday,  but  the  cool  and 
foaming  lager,  so  refreshing  on  a  hot  day,  let  it  be  anathema  ! 
It  is  no  sin  to  have  a  steam-engine  puffing  all  day  long,  and 
a  swarm  of  laborers  working  on  a  building,  within  a  block  of 
Trinity  Church,  but  spies  are  hired  to  peep  through  key-holes 
to  detect  Fritz  Casevorus  in  unholy  devotions  to  King  Gam- 
brinus,  away  up  in  Avenue  A,  and  bring  him  to  punishment 
for  his  malefactions.     It  makes  a  difference. 

'  He  hides  behind  a  magisterial  air 
His  own  offences,  and  strips  others  bare.' 


352  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

When  the  ofifender  urges  in  extenuation  that  he  doesn't  be- 
Heve  Sunday  is  the  Sabbath  Day,  and  he  has,  therefore, 
committed  no  offense  against  Divine  law,  he  is  answered  that 
he  has  been  guilty  of  an  infraction  of  the  law  of  the  land. 
Admitted  :  but  I  am  not  looking  at  the  question  in  a  civil, 
but  purely  in  its  religious,  aspect,  as  presented  by  those  who 
quote,  '  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  ;  to  keep  it  holy.'  I 
don't  mix  the  Bible  with  the  Revised  Statutes. 

"The  law  recognizes  no  religion,  except  in  the  case  of  Jews, 
who  have  certain  privileges  accorded,  because  their  faith 
teaches  them  to  observe  the  genuine  Sabbath.  Why  should  the 
law  discriminate  against  Christians  in  matters  of  conscience  ? 
They  ought  to  be  entitled  to  the  same  privileges  of  belief  or 
unbelief  as  the  Jews.  You  may  argue  that  because  civil  law 
ordains  that  the  first  day  of  the  week  is  the  Sabbath,  wc  are 
bound  to  obey  it,  and  regard  the  day  as  such.  The  obliga- 
tion of  obedience  to  law  I  acknowledge,  but  I  reject  the 
religious  corollary.  Statute  law  cannot  control  the  con- 
science. That  is  what  clergymen  claimed  when  the  Fugitive 
Slave  law  was  in  force,  or  rather  \vas  not  enforced.  The 
Penal  Code  of  the  State  of  New  York  has  the  power  of 
punitive  enforcement,  but  David  Dudley  Field  did  not  frame 
the  Ten  Commandments.  He  could  find  a  flaw  in  them 
if  liberally  retained  on  the  other  side.  The  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  New  York  could  not — by  Divine  inspiration, 
through  the  votes  of  the  Honorable  Mr.  Simpkins  or  the 
Honorable  Mr.  Tweed — convert  the  first  day  of  the  week  into 
the  seventh  ;  and  their  enactments  do  not  make  me  believe 
that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  of  the  Pharisees  is  identical  with 
the  Christian  Sunday  of  Constantine  and  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church." 

"  Yet,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  while  entitled  to  your  opinion, 
you  must  yield  to  the  views  of  the  majority.     Public  opinion 


SUNDAY   VS.  SABBATH.  353 

adopts  the  dictum  of  the  Churches,  and  the  civil  law  upholds 
it,  that  Sunday  is  the  Sabbath  Day." 

"  There  I  join  issue  with  you,"  I  replied.  "The  majority 
does  not  adopt  this  view.  To  say  nothing  of  the  free-thinkers, 
there  are  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  do  not  accept  the  sab- 
batical construction,  and  statistics  show  that  there  are  more 
Catholics  than  Protestants  in  the  world.  Nor  do  all  Protest- 
ants coincide  in  the  interpretation.  The  Lutherans,  for  ex- 
ample, who  hold  the  faith  of  the  pioneer  great  Protestant 
reformer,  entertain  the  same  view  as  the  Catholics.  So  do 
other  sects.  In  Protestant  Germany,  as  well  as  Catholic 
France,  the  worshipers  engage  in  games  and  pastimes  after 
attendance  at  divine  service  on  Sunday.  But  we  hear  a  great 
deal  said  about  our  American  !  Sabbath.  Bear  in  mind  that 
I  am  not  looking  at  this  matter  in  a  restricted  territorial  view, 
but  generally,  applied  to  the  whole  world,  for  I  take  it  the 
Law  was  meant  for  all  mankind,  and  if  there  was  any  special 
application  it  was  intended  for  the  Jews,  the  chosen  people. 
Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Almighty  enacted  a 
special  ordinance  for  our  great  Republic  ?  France  and  Ger- 
many observed  the  Lord's  Day  centuries  before  America  was 
discovered  b)'  Christians.  If  there  is  an  especial  American 
Sabbath,  the  tablets  delivered  amid  the  awful  thunders  of 
Sinai,  should  read.  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  ;  to  keep  it 
holy — in  the  United  States  of  America.  Where  is  the  au- 
thority for  our  American  Sabbath  ?  a  mere  clajD-trap  phrase. 

"  Even  in  observance  there  has  been  a  wonderful  change 
in  the  habits  of  the  people.  I  can  remember  when  it  was  re- 
garded as  wrong  for  a  man  to  take  his  family  out  for  a  drive 
on  Sunday  afternoon.  Walking  for  recreation  was  con- 
demned, and  the  person  in  need  of  exercise  sought  the  ob- 
scurity of  back  streets,  to  avoid  the  masked  batteries  of 
frowning  eyes,  peeping  through  the  pious  embrasures  of  holy 
23 


354  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

closed  blinds.  As  for  music,  the  piano-forte  was  locked 
Saturday  evening  and  opened  Monday  morning.  Some  bold 
innovators  would  shock  their  neighbors  by  playing  what  is 
loosely  defined  as  sacred  music,  but  they  were  possessed  of 
extraordinary  courage  in  braving  public  opinion.  What  is 
sacred  music  ?  All  good  music  is  sacred  ;  the  bad,  an  abom- 
ination. If  one  can  play  the  '  Old  Hundredth '  without 
offense,  why  not  '  Schubert's  Serenade  ?  '  and  surely  the 
soulful  strains  of  the  '  Last  Rose  of  Summer '  could  not 
offend  the  ear  of  Deity  more  than  the  crepitating  '  Hold  the 
f'ort,'  and  such  rattle-de-bang  compositions.  Who  has  the 
authority  to  make  music  sacred,  and  who  profane  ?  It  is  the 
intrinsic  character  that  stamps  it.  There  is  wicked  music.  It 
is  the  sensuous  and  entrancing  strain  which  the  Devil  employs 
to  seduce  the  imagination  and  corrupt  the  heart.  Good,  pure 
music  refines  and  elevates. 

"What  authorized  modification  of  the  sacred  obligation 
makes  innocent  to-day  what  was  wicked  twenty-five  years  ago  ? 
The  puritans,  who  attempted  to  engraft  the  Old  Dispensation 
on  the  New,  and  regarded  the  fortuitous  historical  writings 
of  the  Old  Testament  as  entitled  to  equal  reverence  with  the 
inspired  gospels  of  the  New,  made  the  Sabbath  begin  at  sun- 
down Saturday,  and  end  at  sundown  Sunday.  Then,  the 
pious  farmer  took  his  jug  of  New  England  rum  to  the  field, 
and  commenced  cutting  grass,  and  his  industrious  helpmate 
attacked  the  week's  washing.  Who  has  promulgated  the 
change  in  this  regard  ?  If  it  was  right  to  sow  barley  after 
sundown  on  Sunday,  1834,  who  has  made  it  wrong  on  Sun- 
day, 1884? 

"  The  Church  of  Rome,  which,  with  the  Greek  Church,  in- 
vented Sunday  as  a  religious  holiday,  describes  the  days  of 
the  week  in  her  rubrics  as  follows  :  Sunday,  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  is  the  Lord's  Day,  then  follow  the  second,  third. 


SUNDAY   VS.  SABBATH.  355 

fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  days,  but  Saturday,  the  seventh,  has 
a  distinctive  name — it  is  called  the  Sabbath  Day.  This  is 
the  official  designation  of  the  Mother  Church.  Pope  and 
Patriarch  agree,  and  I  suppose  they  ought  to  know  some- 
thing about  Christianity,'' 

"This  one-sided  discussion  is  becoming  very  tedious,'' 
yawned  Uncle  John,  "  cut  it  off;  let  me  ask  you  what  is  your 
idea  of  Sunday,  stated  without  so  much  circumlocution  ?  '' 

"  My  idea,"  I  said,  "  is  this  :  Sunday,  as  I  have  hereto- 
fore tried  to  explain  (nebulously,  perhaps,  for  I  am  not  a 
theologian)  is  the  Lord's  Day,  and  not  the  Sabbath.  It  is  a 
day  for  which  there  is  no  authority  in  revelation,  but  it  was 
founded  three  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Our  Saviour. 
The  injunction  was,  cessation  from  unnecessary  and  ser\ile 
work,  and,  by  implication,  commemorative  attendance  at  di- 
vine worship.  The  Church  knew  what  it  meant  by  the  insti- 
tution at  the  time,  and  doesn't  require  the  after-century 
elucidation  of  those  who  don't  believe  in  the  Church.  It  is  a 
day  of  rest,  and  recreation  is  often  restful.  The  man  con- 
fined at  a  desk,  or  sitting  at  his  bench,  all  the  week,  may  find 
rest  and  relaxation  of  cramped  limbs  in  a  game  of  cricket. 
Another  may  seek  it  in  the  contemplative  man's  recreation 
and,  rod  in  hand,  follow  old  Izaak  Walton  along  the  grass- 
covered  banks  of  some  quiet  stream,  with  the  innocent  birds 
singing  psalms,  and  sweet  waters  murmuring  litanies  over 
the  beaded  pebbles  ;  while  bending  willows  dip  sprinkling 
fingers  in  the  limpid  font,  niched  in  sequestered  nook  ;  and 
congregated  stalks  of  yellow  grain  bow  their  heads  before 
winds  that  breathe  benedictions  from  on  high.  But  the 
bigot,  who  sits  in  a  cushioned  pew,  and  drowses  through  a 
soporific  homily,  is  afraid  lest  the  profane  swish  of  the 
angler's  fly-cast  will  disturb  his  pious  meditations.  So  he 
sends  a  policeman  after  the  criminal  Sabbath-breaker. 


356  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

"  The  professional,  or  business  man,  whose  mind  is  en- 
grossed in  wearing  mental  strain  on  secular  days,  might  find 
relief  from  exciting  care  in  a  game  of  whist.  If  there  is  noth- 
ing wrong  per  sc  in  cricket,  angling,  or  whist,  one  has  as 
much  right  to  engage  in  them  on  Sunday  as  any  other  day, 
for  there  is  no  prohibition  of  recreation  on  Sunday  or  Sab- 
bath in  either  Old  or  New  Testament.  It  is  not  the  day,  but 
the  act,  that  constitutes  wrong-doing.  What  is  innocent  on 
Saturday  cannot  be  wrong  on  Sunday  ;  that  is,  unless  it  is 
some  infraction  of  a  regulation  by  constituted  authority.  All 
the  Church  interdictions  are  to  be  classed  in  the  category  of 
the  vialiun  proJiibitiini  and  not  the  vtaliun  in  se.  They  are 
matters  of  discipline,  not  creed.  The  Church  of  Rome  says  I 
may  indulge  in  innocent  amusement  on  Sunday  ;  the  Church 
of  Scotland  says  I  may  not.  If  I  believe  in  Rome,  I  repu- 
diate the  authority  of  Scotland  to  control  my  observance  of 
the  Lord's  Day  ;  the  more  confidently  as  Sunday  was  in 
charge  of  the  Church  of  Rome  a  thousand  years  before  Scot- 
land invented  a  Church  of  her  own.  And  I  say,  too,  that 
Scotland  has  no  more  right  to  make  religious  laws  for  Amer- 
ica than  Rome  has.  If  either,  Roman  Catholics,  being  the 
majority,  ought  to  have  the  arrangement  of  these  afifairs,  for 
the  majority  is  supposed  to  rule." 

"  Playing  whist  is  innocent  in  itself,"  said  Uncle  John, 
"  but  it  isn't  keeping  the  Sabbath  day  holy." 

"  Ah  !  there  is  the  whole  argument  in  a  nutshell,"  I  re- 
joined. "Even  if  the  Sabbath  were  not  abrogated  by  the 
Christian  Gospel,  as  the  Reformers  said  it  was,  in  the  Augs- 
burg Confession,  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  is  not  the  first. 
But  you  may  quote  from  Ecclesiastes,  and  say,  *  To  every- 
thing there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to  every  purpose  under 
heaven — time  to  weep,  and  a  time  to  laugh  ;  a  time  to 
mourn  and  a  time  to  dance.'     It  may  occur  to  you  that  Sun- 


SUNDAY   VS.  SABBATH.  35/ 

day  is  not  the  time  to  play  whist,  and  that  dancing  would  be 
rather  out  of  place  at  church.  Yet  the  Jews,  to  whom  the 
Sabbath  was  commanded,  danced  in  their  service " 

"  Look  here,"  interrupted  Uncle  John,  "  I  won't  stand 
this  much  longer  ;  tell  us  briefly  what  kind  of  a  Sunday  you 
would  have." 

"  I  would  have,"  said  I,  "  religious  worship,  as  com- 
manded by  the  Church  ;  innocent  amusements  ;  athletic 
games  and  sports  ;  base-ball  for  the  boys  after  Sunday-school  ; 
driving  in  the  country  for  those  who  could  afford  it  ;  picture 
galleries  open ;  concerts  and  music  in  the  public  parks " 

"  Hold  on,"  interposed  my  interlocutor,  "  you  needn't  go 
through  the  whole  catalogue  of  diversions.  You  seem  to 
want  to  do  away  with  our  old  traditions.  You  arc  an  icono- 
clast !  " 

"  No,"  I  responded,  **  I  am  no  iconoclast,  except  in  the 
sense  of  a  destroyer  of  false  idols.  I  do  not  wish  to  do  away 
with  the  Lord's  Day  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  would  restore  it  to 
its  original  status.  We  read  that  the  Puritan  iconoclasts 
destroyed  rare  works  of  art  and  disfigured  beautiful  temples 
of  Catholic  worship  during  the  reign  of  blind,  vindictive  fa- 
naticism in  England.  Where  they  did  not  shatter  they  some- 
times bedaubed  statues,  and  covered  over  with  whitewash 
choice  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Saints,  which,  to  their 
perverted  gaze,  appeared  idolatrous.  They  pasted  over  the 
Christian  Sunday  a  covering  of  Jewish  Sabbath.  Let  us 
scrape  off  the  disfiguring  layer,  and  restore  the  pristine  beau- 
ties of  the  Lord's  Day  !  " 

"  But,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  you  satirize  everything;  you 
seem  to  believe  in  nothing." 

"On  the  contrary,"  I  remonstrated,  "I  do  believe.  I 
do  not  intend  to  be  satirical,  except  against  what  I  regard  as 
shams  and  false  pretenses,  and  I  do  not  wish   to  treat   this 


358  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

topic  irreverently  or  flippantly.  I  simply  desire  to  bring  out 
the  truth.  I  ridicule  no  faith.  I  respect  every  man's  honest 
convictions,  if  he  arrives  at  them  by  the  process  of  ratiocina- 
tion, and  not  through  stupid,  unreasoning  bigotry.  I  be- 
lieve, however,  that  every  one  ought  to  have  an  intelligent 
belief,  if  the  means  of  information  are  accessible.  It  isn't 
right  for  one  to  shut  his  eyes  when  the  sun  shines  artd  persist 
in  saying  it  is  cloudy,  because  it  so  appears  through  his 
closed  eyelids.  The  intelligent  man  ought  to  have  a  reason 
for  the  faith  that  is  in  him.  I  have  the  most  profound  respect 
for  sincere  faith,  and  wish  I  had  more  of  it  myself  I  would 
be  glad  if  I  could  believe  that  if  I  lost  anything  and  prayed 
to  St.  Anthony  I  would  recover  it.  I  would  put  some  Rock 
Island  to  the  Saint  at  150.  I  am  no  religious  skeptic,  how- 
ever.    I  believe." 

"  In  heav^en's  name,  what  do  you  believe  ?  '"  asked  Uncle 
John,  impatiently. 

"  Credo  in  unuin  De7ijn,"  I  answered  ;  "I  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  holy  Catholic  Church,  the  communion  of 
Saints,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
and  the  life  everlasting.  Amen.  I  do  not  believe  that  Sun- 
day is  the  Sabbath." 

"  Well,  I  don't  care,"  finally  said  Uncle  John  ;  "  that's  the 
way  I  was  brought  up,  and  I'll  stick  to  it." 

"  Right  you  are,"  I  concluded  ;  "  stick  to  anything  you 
believe.      Your  argument,  though,  is  a  no7i  scqiiitur!' 

So  there  was  no  game  of  dominos  Sunday  evening.  It 
cannot  be  played  solitaire. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


HAVANA. 


The  Streets — Soldiers — Policemen — Yellow  Fever — The  Foul  Harbor — 
\'olunteers — A  Minder — Agucro — Political — Morro  Castle  — Jelly- 
fish— A  Night  Scene — Domestic  Cigars — Whistling — Milk — Oxen — 
The  Spanish  Yoke. 

Havana,  April  18,  18S4. 
Havana  is  so  familiar  to  Americans,  through  the  facihty 
of  quick  intercommunication,  that  a  description  of  it  would 
be  "a  thrice-told  tale."  I  failed  to  observe  any  material 
change  in  its  appearance  since  I  was  here  five  years  ago,  with 
the  exception  of  some  new  buildings  erected  near  the  Prado. 
I  think  I  saw  more  ladies,  attended  by  black  diicuas,  walking 
in  the  streets  to  do  their  shopping,  but  the  impoverished  con- 
dition of  the  island  may  necessitate  economical  pedcstrianisni, 
though  it  is  probable  that  American  intercourse  is  modif)'ing 
manners  and  customs.  Formerly  it  was  rare  to  see  ladies 
afoot.  Now,  though  carriages  were  still  to  be  seen  before 
the  shops,  containing  ladies  with  heads  covered  by  the  Span- 
ish vail,  there  were  many  walking  in  the  streets. 

Soldiers  and  policemen  abound,  the  former  puny,  slouch- 
ing, unhealthy-looking  and  ill-clad,  while  the  latter  are  well 
uniformed  and  equipped,  evidently  picked  men,  of  a  superior 
grade  to  the  military.  The  enlisted  men  sent  from  Spain 
seem  to  be  of  an  inferior  class  of  the  population,  but  the  officers 
are  handsome,  well  set-up,  and   of  soldierly   bearing.     The 


360  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

common  soldiers  soon  fall  sick.  During  the  last  insurrection- 
ary war,  fifty- five  per  cent,  of  the  fresh  levies  from  Spain  died 
of  disease. 

Our  first  call  was  upon  my  old  friend,  Dr.  D.  M.  Burgess, 
from  Richfield  Springs,  New  York,  a  physician  in  large  prac- 
tice, who  has  resided  here  for  fifteen  years,  and  is  now  United 
States  Sanitary  Inspector.  Another  old-time  American  resi- 
dent is  Mr.  W.  B.  Redding,  a  native  of  New  York  City,  who 
has  lived  here  thirty  years,  and  during  his  residence  has  made 
eighty  voyages  between  Havana  and  his  home.  Probably 
no  one  on  the  island  has  a  greater  number  of  acquaintances. 
He  knows  everybody,  as  the  saying  goes.  He  furnishes  all 
the  fine  horses  in  Cuba,  which  he  imports  from  the  United 
States.  The  native  horses  are  poor.  The  duty  on  imported 
horses  is  $132.40  a  head.  During  the  war  there  was  an  ad- 
ditional duty  of  twenty  per  cent.,  and  this,  added  to  an  entry 
fee  of  $10,  and  $17  for  veterinary  examination,  made  a  good 
horse  a  costly  luxury.  Then  there  is  an  internal  revenue  tax 
of  $50  per  annum. 

We  are  under  great  obligation  to  Mr.  Redding.  He  ac- 
companies us  everywhere  and  affords  facilities  for  obtaining 
information  not  ordinarily  within  easy  reach  of  travelers. 
We  were  gratified  to  have  him  dine  with  us  aboard  the 
yacht,  with  his  friend  Mr.  T.  B.  Crowe,  the  British  Vice- 
Consul,  Dr.  Burgess,  and  Mr.  C  C.  Fort,  Acting  United 
States  Consul,  succeeding  General  Badeau,  who  vanished 
from  the  Consulate  the  day  we  arrived.  In  the  Consul's 
office  was  a  young  Cuban  clerk,  to  whom  I  gave  a  half  eagle 
to  pay  some  postage  on  letters  to  the  United  States.  I  had 
hard  work  to  get  the  change.  In  fact  I  didn't  get  it  from 
him.  Happening  to  mention  it  to  Dr.  Burgess,  he  advanced 
the  amount  to  me,  saying  he  was  connected  with  the  Consul- 
ate and  would  collect  from  the  slow  payer.     Perhaps  he  did. 


HAVANA.  2i^\ 

But  he  must  have  employed  a  dentist.  According  to  the 
slang  in  vogue,  they  are  all  "  on  the  make  "  in  Havana. 

The  Prado  shows  some  improvement  since  I  was  last 
here.  Then,  the  convicts,  in  chain-gangs,  under  the  sur- 
veillance of  overseers  armed  with  rifles,  were  at  work  on  it, 
but  the  extension  is  now  completed,  and  it  is  a  handsome, 
broad  avenue,  with  interior  spaces  for  trees,  plants,  flowers, 
and  fountains,  flanked  with  wide,  smooth  coachways.  The 
streets  are  kept  reasonably  well-sprinkled,  for  water  is  plent}', 
but  there  is  no  drainage,  and  to  this  cause  may  be  attributed 
the  constant  presence  of  yellow  fever.  Witli  accumulation 
of  filthy  deposits,  unmoved  by  purifying  currents,  the  harbor 
is  a  fruitful  generator  of  disease.  If  a  channel  could  be  cut, 
to  promote  the  flow  of  water  and  move  the  festering  detritus 
which  coagulates  in  poisonous  exhalement,  and  carry  it  out 
to  sea,  one  great  source  of  pestilential  germination  would  be 
removed.  15ut  this  would  require  the  expenditure  of  a  great 
deal  of  money,  and  there  is  but  little  cash  here.  i\.s  Uncle  John 
remarked,  Cuba  has  no  money,  and  less  credit.  I  believe 
that  this  purification  would  make  Havana  one  of  the  health- 
iest cities  in  the  world.  The  climate  is  of  unexcelled  salu- 
brity, and  disease  is  not  violent,  apart  from  the  noxious  yel- 
low fever,  which  is  virulent  because  of  inefficient  provision 
for  expulsion  of  the  seething  feculence  that  defiles  the  harbor 
waters. 

But  it  is  useless  to  hope  for  this  improvement  under  Span- 
ish rule,  which  is  a  vampire  sucking  the  life  blood  of  the 
commonalty.  With  Cuba  free,  or  annexed  to  the  United 
States,  there  might  be  a  change  for  the  better,  but  so  long 
as  the  island  is  at  the  mercy  of  rapacious  Spanish  officials, 
who  plunder  it  for  their  own  enrichment,  there  is  little  hope 
of  its  amelioration.  Loyalty  is  rampant  in  Cuba.  That 
attribute   (the  masquerading    costume    of   knaves    in    every 


362  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

country)  is  expensive  to  the  people  anywhere,  but  it  is  par- 
ticularly extravagant  here.  The  bitter  hatred  between  Cuban 
and  Castilian,  though  not  so  intense  superficially  as  during 
the  period  of  insurrection,  still  smolders  hotly,  and  is  liable  to 
break  out  at  any  time,  in  open  revolt,  fanned  by  fierce  re- 
sentment of  unprosperity.  The  Spanish  Club,  the  Casino, 
is  the  focus  of  loyalty,  and  here  none  but  the  Castilian  may 
enter.  It  is  the  headquarters  of  the  blood-thirsty  Volun- 
teers, who  maintained  a  reign  of  terror  during  the  existence 
of  the  rebellion.  They  were  bold  and  brutal,  ruling  with 
truculent  disregard  of  every  law  except  their  own  savage 
will  ;  an  intensely  loyal  mob  on  the  side  of  the  Government. 
Mr.  Redding,  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  occurrence, 
related  to  us  an  instance  of  the  ferocity  of  these  Volunteers 
during  the  excitement  of  the  disturbed  period.  He  was 
seated  in  the  cafe  of  the  Louvre,  in  company  with  a  gentle- 
man in  the  diplomatic  service,  whose  carriage  stood  outside 
the  door.  Their  attention  having  been  attracted  to  a  com- 
motion in  Isabella  Park,  near  by,  the  gentlemen  went  out 
and  saw  a  man  running  from  a  Volunteer,  who  fired,  and  the 
pursued  fell  dead.  Mr.  Redding  asked  the  Volunteer,  whom 
he  knew%  why  he  shot  the  man,  and  was  answered  that  the 
villain  wore  a  blue  cravat  and  refused  to  reply  when  ques- 
tioned as  to  wearing  it,  but  started  to  run.  Mr.  Redding 
went  to  the  unfortunate  victim  of  Volunteer  loyalty  and  re- 
cognized in  him  a  young  American,  who  had  been  in  Havana 
but  a  few  weeks,  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  perfumery  made  in 
New  York.  Wanting  to  send  his  likeness  home  to  his  wife, 
he  put  on  this  blue  cravat,  without  knowing  the  significance 
of  its  revolutionary  color,  to  sit  for  a  photograph.  He  was 
returning  from  the  sitting  when  he  encountered  the  rancor- 
ous Volunteer,  who  addressed  him  in  a  menacing  manner, 
when  the  poor  fellow,  not  understanding  Spanish,  started  to 


HAVANA. 


J^J 


run  and  was  murdered,  as  related.  The  coachman  of  the  diplo- 
mat, who  witnessed  the  whole  affair,  was  threatened  with 
vengeance  if  he  testified  against  the  murderer,  who,  after 
some  mockery  of  justice,  was  released  from  arrest.  They 
were  "  hanging  men  and  women  for  the  wearing  of  the 
green "  in  Ireland  ;  in  Cuba  they  were  shooting  men  for 
wearing  the  blue. 

It  was  unfortunate  for  that  victim  of  the  blue  that  there 
was  no  Fort  Lafayette  handy  in  Havana,  or  his  life  might 
have  been  spared  from  the  revolver,  and  his  disloyal  body 
consigned  to  the  dungeon  of  the  suspect  b)'  a  tinkle  of  the 
little  bell.  As  it  was,  he  was  tried  summarily  by  a  drum- 
head court-martial,  of  one  member,  self-appointed,  and — by 
bullet  instead  of  rope — met  the  mob-appeasing  fate  of  Mrs. 
Surratt. 

During  his  long  residence  In  Havana,  Mr.  Redding  has 
seen  many  strange  things.  He  witnessed  the  shooting  of 
the  Virginius  party,  heretofore  mentioned  in  one  of  these 
letters  from  Kingston,  and  pointed  out  to  us  the  wall  near 
the  prison  where  they  were  ranged  for  execution.  Garroting 
on  the  Prado  he  saw  quite  often  ;  indeed  he  has  been  treated 
to  an  extensive  variety  of  cheerful  and  amusing  sights. 

Apropos  of  the  intense  loyalty  of  the  \''olunteers,  we 
have  just  learned  that  Aguero  landed  a  few  days  ago,  from  a 
Key  West  schooner,  on  the  coast,  two  hundred  and  twcnt}-- 
five  miles  from  Havana,  with  an  overwhelming  force  of 
twenty-five  men.  Five  thousand  soldiers  have  been  sent  in 
pursuit  of  his  army,  two  hundred  soldiers  to  a  filibuster.  As 
he  is  in  a  forest  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long,  it  is 
possible  that  he  may  be  able  to  lead  the  opposition  a  long 
chase  before  he  is  captured.  No  doubt  he  will  get  accessions 
from  the  sympathizing  inhabitants  of  the  rebellious  districts, 
and  may  be  able  to  make  a  formidable  demonstration.      Na- 


364  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

poleon  had  quite  a  small  army  when  he  landed  from  Elba, 
but  Aguero  may  not  be  a  Napoleon. 

There  is  a  favorable  revolutionary  condition  in  the  all- 
pervading  stagnation  of  trade  and  financial  distress.  Hunger 
is  a  powerful  stimulant  to  patriotism.  Poverty  clamors  for  a 
change,  while  wealth  lies  inert,  careless  of  the  rights  of  the 
people,  deaf  to  the  voice  of  independence.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  philosophy  in  the  remark  of  the  French  com- 
munistic editor,  who  advocated  the  equal  distribution  of  prop- 
erty until  he  became  the  unexpected  possessor  of  fifty  thou- 
sand francs  as  a  legatee.  When  asked  if  he  were  still  in  favor 
of  equal  distribution,  he  answered  that  he  was  for  all  sums 
over  fifty  thousand  francs.  The  full  belly  is  a  great  clog  to 
the  independent  heart.  It  sluggishly  retards  the  circulation 
of  the  liberty-loving  blood. 

There  is  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  Spain  winks  at  these 
c'metitcs,  which  form  a  pretext  for  an  enormous  increase  in 
the  budget  for  military  purposes,  besides  quickening  the 
loyal  feeling  to  influence  the  elections  for  the  Cortes,  now 
progressing.  Nothing  is  so  useful  in  the  bamboozling  line 
as  loyalty,  except  it  be  reform  ;  which  has  now  first  choice 
in  the  election  pools  by  which  people  are  sold  in  the  United 
States.  Both  cries  are  used  to  great  advantage  by  the  dema- 
gogue. It  is  the  old  expedient  of  despotism,  to  encourage 
latent  discontent,  to  foment  disaffection  and  bring  it  to  a 
head  prematurely,  and  then  crush  it  with  a  loyal  blow  at  the 
opportune  moment.  This  has  been  the  course  pursued  by 
England  to  keep  Ireland  under,  through  bribery,  spies,  in- 
formers, and  provocation  to  overt  acts,  which  were  made  the 
justification  for  harsh  and  cruel  repressive  measures.  It  is 
no  new  thing  to  get  up  outrages  to  order.  We  know  some- 
thing about  it  at  home.  It  is  not  many  years  since  Eliza 
Pinkston,   an    influential   politician    in   Louisiana,   created  a 


HAVANA.  365 

great  sensation  by  appearing  as  an  election  outragec,  and, 
in  the  Capitol  at  New  Orleans,  showed  "of  wounds  two 
dozen  odd,"  which  she  did  "for  your  voices  bear" — citizens 
Wells  and  Anderson,  Kenner  and  Casanave  ! 

The  Government  ships  malefactors  to  the  Unftcd  States. 
and  they  return  filibusters.     Aguero  was  hired  to  leave  Cuba 
some  time  ago  ;  his  return  now  as  an  insurgent  about  clec-. 
tion  time  has  a  suspicious  look.     Still  he  may  be  an  honest 
reformer:  he  is  not  an  American. 

A  visit  to  Morro  Castle  was  interesting.  The  necessary 
permit  was  obtained  from  the  Captain  of  the  Port  without 
difficulty.  This  formidable  fortification  was  once  an  effectual 
barrier  to  hostile  entrance  to  the  harbor,  but  it  would  be  of 
little  service  against  the  improved  naval  armament  of  the 
period.  The  Morro  is  kept  in  good  condition  and  is  strongly 
fortified,  but  the  white-walled  Cabaftas  fort  seems  to  be  fall- 
ing into  decay.  We  were  courteously  received  at  the  sally- 
port by  a  dignified  Spanish  officer,  who  detailed  a  subaltern 
to  accompany  us  through  the  works.  Whether  this  was 
a  delicate  attention,  or  a  precaution  against  our  making 
sketches  of  the  fortifications  for  General  Don  Mateo  Mc- 
Mahon  and  other  Cubans,  engaged  in  profound  revolutionary 
projects  for  Cuba  Libre,  at  Cruquinassius',  Park  Row,  I  am 
unable  to  say  ;  but  the  officer  was  agreeable  in  his  manners, 
and  we  considerately  avoided  any  heated  discussion  with  him, 
as  he  couldn't  understand  what  we  said.  He  was  neat  and 
soldierlike  in  his  dress,  as  are  all  the  officers.  The  soldiers 
are  shabby  fellows,  clothed  in  flimsy,  striped-cotton  uniforms, 
unkempt,  and  apparently  undisciplined.  The  officer  who  ac- 
companied us,  being  a  first  lieutenant,  must  get  as  much  as 
forty  of  fifty  dollars  a  year  pay.  The  common  soldiers  get 
nothing  but  their  cheap  clothing  and  poor  rations.  I  believe 
they  are  promised   some  trifling  pay,  but  they  never  get  it. 


366  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

The  high  officials  of  Cuba  gobble  up  all  the  money  and  there 
is  none  left  for  the  poor  old  soldier.  I  suppose  that  the 
Government  supplies  him  with  a  grave,  as  a  necessity,  but  a 
coffin  is  a  luxury. 

The  Morro  is  a  solid  mass  of  masonry,  but  stone  is  good 
for  little  as  a  resistant  to  the  powerful  projectiles  of  recent 
improved  construction.  Masonry  crumbles  before  the  irre- 
sistible missiles  which  science,  with  progressive  destructive- 
ness,  invents.  How  much  easier  to  destroy  than  to  build  ;  a 
platitude  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  firing  a  shot  at  pur- 
blind agitators,  who  can  pull  down  in  an  hour  what  it  took 
years  of  wise  foresight  and  patient  experience  to  build  up. 
The  piles  of  rusty  round  shot  lining  the  parapets,  and  the 
general  appearance,  are  emblematic  of  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment in  Cuba  ;  corroding,  decaying,  effete,  with  obsolete 
methods  and  inefficient,  ancient  forms  ;  feeble  in  attack, 
powerless  for  defense. 

The  barracks,  partially  bomb-proof,  are  dull  and  cavern- 
ous, but  comfortable  enough  for  the  occupants,  who  would  be 
satisfied  with  less  inviting  quarters.  It  would  hardly  do  them 
any  good  to  be  dissatisfied. 

The  light-house  on  Morro  Castle  has  inscribed  on  it,  in 
bold  letters,  O'Donnell,  1844,  in  honor  of  the  Captain  General 
at  the  time  of  its  erection,  who  is  still  held  in  grateful  regard, 
as  an  exceptional  governor,  whose  administration  was  char- 
acterized by  firmness,  liberality,  intelligence,  and  the  absence 
of  the  usual  peculation.  Standing  on  the  Custom  House 
wharf  in  Havana,  in  the  year  1878,  I  saw  spray  from  the 
waves,  blown  in  by  a  violent  "  norther,"  dash  over  the  lan- 
tern of  this  pharos,  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  high.  This  is 
quite  a  story  to  tell  about  a  wave,  but  I  saw  it  with  my  own 
eyes,  and  I  am  near-sighted.  Had  I  been  far-sighted,  the 
light-house  tower  would  have  been  considerably  higher,  of 


HAVANA.  367 

course.  Tlicsc  storms  from  the  north  are  quite  violent.  Tlie 
view  from  the  observatory  and  signal-station  is  fine,  throu_L;h 
the  powerful  glasses,  furnished  by  considerate  officials,  who 
did  not  refuse  the  acknowledging  hoiiorariitni. 

There  is  a  fortification  in  the  city  of  1  lavana  proper,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  harbor,  which  has  never  been  taken.  It 
is  called  the  virgin  fortress.  A  silk  flag  flies  from  it  every 
day  in  the  year.  Flags  are  displayed  elsewhere  only  on  Sun- 
days, holidays,  and  special  occasions. 

Sitting  on  the  deck  of  the  yacht  at  night,  the  water — per- 
fectly tranquil,  reflecting  long  lines  of  glittering  lights  ashore, 
which  marked  the  surface  into  the  appearance  of  illuminated 
columns,  extending  from  vessel  to  dock — presented  a  beau- 
tiful appearance.  It  was  finer  than  any  harbor  scene  I  have 
witnessed,  save  the  view,  from  Staten  Island,  of  the  Brookh'n 
Bridge,  with  its  row  of  electric  sparkles,  a  veritable  carcanct 
of  lustrous  gems.  I  saw,  for  the  first  time  in  placid  water, 
the  intermittent  lambent  gleams  from  jelly-fish,  swinmiing 
around  the  yacht,  having  a  little  torchlight  procession  of  their 
own  with  flash  lights.  I  had  often  witnessed  phosphorescent 
trails  in  the  wake,  and  alongside,  of  vessels  sailing  (more 
vivid  in  the  northerly  latitudes  than  here),  but  I  had  never 
before  seen  the  hnninous  emission  from  the  gelatinous  mass, 
in  perfectly  still  water,  without  the  attrition  of  the  keel.  I 
had  supposed  that  contact  with  some  object  was  required  to 
evoke  the  spark,  and  was  not  aware  before  that  it  is  a  sjion- 
taneous  effusion.  The  jelly-fish  is  the  glow-worm  of  the 
deep. 

The  Havana  of  daylight  and  the  city  by  gaslight  are  differ- 
ent places  to  the  view.  One  is  dull  and  dingy,  with  no  sym- 
metrical architecture,  and  with  but  few  broad  streets,  stately 
churches,  and  magnificent  buildings,  such  as  one  sees  in  Eu- 
rope  or  America  ;    the  other  is   a  magnificent   metropolis, 


368  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

which  myriad  lights  transform  into  a  splendid  panorama. 
We  went  to  hear  the  Marine  Band  play  in  the  Park  Isabella 
the  Second  (where  there  is  a  monument  to  the  former  Queen 
of  Spain),  and  the  scene  brought  to  mind  the  Champs  Elysees 
in  Paris,  with  the  cafcs-cJiantants,  puppet-shows,  and  naughty, 
but  fascinating,  fairy-like  Mabille.  I  plead  guilty  to  Mabille. 
It  was  delightful ;  but  some  Americans  I  met  there  were  dis- 
appointed ;  they  saw  nothing  improper  ;  they  could  do  bet- 
ter in  New  York,  I  believe  it  has  been  abolished.  It  was  a 
mistake  ;  where  will  the  Brooklyn  deacons  go  now  when  they 
visit  Paris  ? 

But  to  come  back  from  Paris  to  Havana.  The  Park  was 
filled  with  handsomely-dressed  ladies,  many  of  them  wearing 
bonnets,  but  the  majority  appearing  in  the  more  tasteful  and 
piquant  vail.  The  bonnet,  however,  is  gradually  becoming 
fashionable.  I  saw  none  worn  except  by  travelers  when  here 
before,  but  now  the  hat  is  making  vigorous  inroads  on  the 
vail.  In  this  I  see  evidence  of  Spanish  decadence.  The  in- 
novation cannot  fail  to  have  its  effect.  Patriotism  is  sapped 
by  millinery.  The  bonnet  rouge  was  the  French  revolution- 
ary symbol ;  who  knows  but  that  the  American  bonnet 
may  become  the  liberty-cap  to  emblematize  Cuban  independ- 
ence ? 

We  sauntered  amid  the  throng — promenading  the  walks 
or  gathered  in  groups  on  the  bordering  seats — listening  to 
the  excellent  music,  and  admiring  the  beauties  (for  the  Ha- 
vanese  women  are  very  handsome,  with  fine  features,  raven 
hair,  dark  eyes,  flashing  beneath  strongly-marked  eyebrows, 
and  clear,  olive  complexions),  until,  tired,  we  went  across  the 
street  to  the  Louvre,  where  we  took  a  table  and  remained 
some  time  watching  the  uninterrupted  stream  of  incoming 
and  outgoing  visitors.  This  is  the  fashionable  cafe,  and  it 
was  filled  with  men,  women,  and  children,  eating,  drinking. 


HAVANA.  369 

and  smoking.  At  one  table,  was  a  party  of  gentlemen  drink- 
ing cognac  and  smoking  cigarettes,  at  another,  some  ladies 
and  children  eating  ices,  but  all  exhibiting  an  un-American 
nonchalance  and  unconcern  as  to  the  movements  of  their 
neighbors.  A  favorite  beverage  here  is  \.\\c  panaic,  a  sweet- 
ened compound  which  takes  the  place  of  the  PVcnch  can  sncrcc. 
It  is  a  mixture  of  Q^-g  and  sugar,  something  like  a  incrmguc, 
and  is  served  with  a  large  glass  of  water,  into  which  the  wafer 
is  broken  and  dissolved  and  then  drunk.  It  would  look  effem- 
inate for  a  man  to  go  into  Uelmonico's  and  drink  tx paiialc, 
but  it  is  common  here.  Gin  is  a  favorite  beverage,  but 
American  lager-beer  is  slowly  coming  into  favor.  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  mind-your-own  business  in  Havana.  The  puri- 
tan has  not  yet  obtained  a  foothold.  Looking  out  upon  this 
night  exhibition  of  glare  and  glitter,  I  could  not  but  think 
that  it  was  something  like  the  scenery  of  a  theatre,  dusty  and 
unattractive  until  lighted  up.  And  there  is  an  unreality 
about  the  splendor,  too,  for  this  gay  and  festive  crowd  is  the 
population  of  an  island  hopelessly  insolvent,  on  the  verge  of 
general  bankruptcy  and  universal  poverty. 

At  the  Louvre  we  met  Mr.  Alvarez,  the  famous  cigar 
manufacturer,  who  invited  us  to  visit  his  factor}-,  the  next 
day,  and  kindly  offered  to  have  some  cigars  made  for  us 
while  we  were  on  the  premises.  We  did  not  take  advantage 
of  his  offer.  When  we  returned  to  New  York  it  would  be 
too  much  trouble  to  enter  and  clear  the  cigars  at  the  Custom 
House,  and  we  would  scorn  to  smuggle  them.  No  l<>}'al 
American  ever  smuggles  anything  for  his  personal  use.  We 
have  too  much  respect  for  law  ;  implicit  obedience  to  which 
is  a  national  characteristic.  As  fu-  ladies  returning  from 
Europe,  who  ever  heard  of  one  of  tiie  dear  creatures  omitting 
to  declare  every  dutiable  article  in  her  trunks.  A  propos  dcs 
bottcs^  Uncle  John  has  a  story  about  a  Chicagoan  in  Havana. 
24 


370  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

who  went  to  Upmann's  factory  to  buy  some  cigars.  He 
asked  if  those  offered  were  of  fine  quaHty.  "  Certainly,"  said 
the  salesman,  "they  are  of  choice  Vuelta  Abajo  tobacco, 
made  this  week  in  our  own  factory."  "  What  !  made  here  ?  " 
said  the  traveler,  "  you  must  have  a  cheek  to  offer  them  to 
me.  Do  I  look  like  a  man  who  smokes  domestic  cigars  ?  I 
use  none  but  imported." 

I  don't  believe  this  story.  It  is  a  satire  on  the  foreign 
affectation  so  popular  with  our  rising  generation,  the  imita- 
tive Anglification  of  omx  jcunesse  do7'^e,  the  drawl,  the  coach- 
man costume,  the  blase  air,  everything  but  the  virility.  The 
English  dandy  has  an  outward  lackadaisical  superciliousness, 
but  is  hearty  and  manly  under  the  surface  ;  our  American 
dude  is  a  contemptible  bit  of  jejune  effeminacy,  a  flaccid, 
mean-spirited,  vapid,  sneering,  inane  creature,  lacking  the 
indispensable  attribute  of  the  true  gentleman — chivalrous  re- 
spect for  women. 

That  indefatigable  and  incorrigible  punster.  Uncle  John, 
couldn't  resist  the  temptation  to  get  off  a  joke  when  he  came 
out  of  Honradez'.  "  What  have  you  been  having  in  there  ?  " 
inquired  Mr.  Redding.  "  Havana  cigar,"  promptly  replied 
the  Domino  King.  The  Commodore  threatens  to  put  him 
in  irons  if  he  persists  in  these  transgressions,  after  we  get 
on  the  high  seas,  three  miles  from  land,  where  the  master 
of  a  ship  may  exercise  despotic  authority. 

Returning  to  the  yacht  about  midnight,  we  embarked 
from  the  Marine  wharf.  We  had  no  difficulty  in  passing  the 
gate,  Mr.  Redding  explaining  to  the  sentinel  who  we  were, 
but  we  had  a  sample  of  the  jealous  vigilance  exercised  when 
the  Commodore  blew  a  whistle  to  summon  his  gig.  A  cepe- 
vorist  approached  and  said  the  officer  of  the  guard  desired  to 
know  what  that  whistle  meant,  and  when  it  was  explained, 
warned  us  not  to  blow  again  without  permission.     Whereupon 


HAVANA.  371 

we  prudently  restrained  the  great  Yankee  propensity  to  do  a 
good  deal  of  blowing. 

A  curious  sight  in  Havana  is  the  milk-peddling.  Cows 
are  driven  through  the  streets  and  milked  before  the  doors  of 
customers,  as  demands  arc  made.  They  want  no  middle- 
men, no  intermediate,  adulterating  brokers,  but  get  their 
milk  at  first  hands.  Probably  the  service  is  not  erratic,  and 
that  there  is  an  allotted  via  lactca  for  each  dealer,  but  there 
is  an  advantage  in  this  method,  for  if  the  regular  milkman 
doesn't  come,  any  udder  man  can  fill  the  vessel  ;  u-ith  but 
small  chance  for  deception,  as  the  milking  is  done  under  the 
eye  of  the  purchaser.  You  can't  deceive  the  cunning  Hava- 
nese.  They  are  up  to  all  the  tricks  of  adulteration.  They 
have  their  milk  teeth  cut  and  you  can't  fool  them  :  not  by  a 
long  chalk.  The\'  know  what  watered  stock  is.  No  big  cans 
for  them  ;  no  chalk  and  water  in  their  dish.  A  sleight-of- 
hand  performer  might  have  water  concealed  somewhere  about 
his  person,  like  Hermann,  who  produces  a  brimming  vase 
filled  with  gold-fish  from  the  tight  sleeve  of  his  dress-coat, 
but  it  isn't  probable  that  these  peddlers  are  up  to  such  tricks 
of  legerdemain.  Yet  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  the  milkmen,  who 
are  astute  chaps,  get  the  best  of  their  patrons  after  all.  They 
generally  do.  They  may  water  the  cows  before  driving  them 
into  town  to  be  milked. 

If  there  were  any  distillers  in  Havana,  they  might  feed 
their  cows  on  grains  and  go  around  the  streets  drawing  milk- 
punch.  This  would  obviate  to  some  extent  the  use  of  the 
bottle.  One  of  these  days  some  genius  may  invent  a  refrig- 
erator attachment  (a  sort  of  a  Charles  Francis  Adams  touch) 
which  would  enable  the  vender  to  milk  ice-cream. 

This  peripatetic  lactarium  has  its  merits.  It  may  be 
called  a  bos  system.  The  milk  is  better  than  when  churned 
over  the  pavements   for  hours   in  heated  cans,  sending   the 


372  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

cream  to  the  top,  to  be  scooped  off  for  the  first  customers 
served,  while  the  last  get  the  lees  and  impurities  at  the  bot- 
tom ;  like  those  in  the  middle  of  the  table  at  a  French  table 
d'hote,  who,  in  the  distribution  of  effects,  become  residuary 
legatees  and  receive  all  the  drumsticks  of  the  chickens. 

Then  when  baby  was  sick,  the  anxious  mother  would  be 
sure  of  getting  the  milk  of  "  one  cow."  Uncle  John,  who  is 
always  raising  hair-splitting  quibbles,  suggested  that  this 
wouldn't  always  be  certain  ;  the  cow  milked  might  be  a  twin. 
This  is  one  of  his  bulls.  I  often  lose  patience  with  him  ;  he 
is  so  hard  to  steer. 

Oxen  are  still  largely  employed  in  the  agricultural  dis- 
tricts, and  are  often  to  be  seen  even  in  the  streets  of  Havana. 
They  wear  no  yokes,  but  draw  by  the  head,  after  the  old 
Egyptian  manner.  The  strong  forehead  of  the  ox  is  capable 
of  great  resistance,  but  whether  this  is  preferable  to  the  neck 
method  I  am  unable  to  say.  I  have  never  had  any  experi- 
ence driving  oxen,  although  I  have  had  fruitless  years  of 
contact  with  asses  in  politics,  who  could  neither  be  led  nor 
driven.  I  suppose  the  forehead  would  not  be  so  apt  to  get 
galled  as  the  neck — but  I  had  better  not  discuss  a  question 
about  which  I  know  nothing.  Ordinarily  that  would  not  be 
a  bar  to  argument,  for  the  less  one  knows  the  more  apt  he  is 
to  assert  a  confident  opinion  ;  but  I  will  put  on  the  muzzle 
and  not  tread  on  the  farmer's  corns.  A  few  years  ago  some 
enterprising  American  imported  a  quantity  of  ox-yokes,  but 
he  couldn't  sell  them.  The  Cubans  stuck  to  their  old  methods. 
Perhaps  the  Spanish  yoke  is  as  much  as  they  can  bear  at  one 
time.     Ox-yokes  may  come  in  with  independence. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

CUBAN  CUSTOMS. 

Slavery — 'Shopkeepers — Convicts — Cigars  —  Lotteries  —  Sunday  —  The 
Cathedral— A  Full  Day's  Work— Bull-fights— The  Pilgrimage- 
Succotash — Echoes  of  Travel — Beautiful  Faith — The  Germans — 
Emblems — Catalans — Exit  Romeria. 

Havana,  April  21,  1S84. 
OXE-THIRD  of  the  population  of  Havana  (208,000)  is  black, 
and  about  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  blacks  arc  slaves.  In 
three  years  all  the  slaves  will  be  free,  and  the  near  approach 
of  their  enfranchisement  renders  them  of  little  value.  The 
price  of  the  cheapest  grade  is  down  to  twenty  dollars.  I 
had  a  notion  to  buy  one  at  that  figure,  merely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  the  pleasure  of  manumitting  him.  In  1862,  I 
did  a  bit  of  manumission  on  my  own  account,  freeing  forty 
slaves  who  had  been  working  for  "  Massa  "  l^ranch  at  Han- 
over Court  House.  But  I  didn't  take  that  liberty  with  them 
without  asking  their  consent.  I  obtained  permission  to  issue 
an  emancipation  proclamation,  and  when  they  were  paraded, 
I  waved  my  sword  over  their  heads,  and  said  in  my  most  im- 
pressive ex  cathedra  manner,  "  Niggers  be  free  !  "  Antl  they 
were.  My  proclamation  was  effective.  I  had  the  slaves  in 
hand.  The  paper  one  wasn't  good  for  much,  on  the  princi- 
ple of  Mrs.  Glass'  famous  recipe,  "  First  catch  your  hare." 
The  Union  rifle  and  sabre  were  the  great  emancipators.  That 
manumission,  however,  didn't  cost  me  a  cent.  I  was  ojjcr- 
ating  with  other  people's  money,  like  a  Railroad  President. 


374  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  it  cost  the  people  of  the 
United  States  several  millions  of  dollars  to  free  those  forty 
slaves,  the  greater  portion  of  which  went  to  loyal  army  con- 
tractors. The  Creoles  are  a  weak,  lazy,  diseased  race,  but 
the  negro  blood  in  Cuba  is  healthy  and  strong. 

Convicts  are  let  out  by  the  Captain- General,  in  chain- 
gangs,  on  plantations,  and  to  various  manufactories,  princi- 
pally of  tobacco.  There  are  not  many  negroes  sent  to  the 
plantations.  It  is  said  that  the  farming  out  of  convicts  is  no 
inconsiderable  source  of  revenue  to  the  Captain-General. 

Driving  out  the  Paseo  to  a  shabby  and  little  frequented, 
sea-side  resort,  near  the  city,  we  were  enabled  to  judge  of 
the  extent  of  financial  distress  by  learning  the  enormous  de- 
preciation in  the  value  of  real  estate.  Beautiful  villas  and 
handsome  residences  would  hardly  bring  one-third  of  their 
original  cost,  even  if  they  could  be  sold  at  all.  They  might 
be  sold  on  time,  but  there  is  no  money  to  pay.  The  country 
is  in  the  condition  of  the  waggish  druggist,  who  said  that  he 
could  meet  his  paper  but  couldn't  pay  it.  We  had  a  good 
luncheon  at  a  roadside  restaurant,  white  bread,  good  cheese, 
and  a  bottle  of  fair  claret,  at  a  reasonable  rate.  Liquors  are 
cheap  in  Havana,  except  champagne,  which  is  dear,  owing  to 
the  duty.  All  other  commodities,  but  cigars  and  matches, 
are  dear.  It  is  strange  that,  with  money  so  scarce,  every- 
thing should  be  high.  Cab-hire  is  an  exception,  the  price  for 
a  "  course,"  in  the  shaky  victoria,  drawn  by  a  dilapidated 
horse,  being  but  twenty-five  cents  in  paper,  or  nine  cents  in 
gold.  We  bought  some  superior  matches,  called  the  ccrilla 
grande,  long  wax  tapers,  inodorous,  in  safety-boxes,  for  six 
dollars  a  gross  in  Spanish  paper,  or  two  dollars  and  forty 
cents  in  gold  ;  thirty  for  a  cent.  Cigars  are  cheap,  of  course, 
but  one  is  liable  to  be  cheated  in  buying  the  higher-priced 
cigars,  for  which  inferior  grades  are  often  palmed  oft".     For 


CUHAN    CUSTOMS.  375 

that  matter,  the  Havanese  are  great  swindlers  in  trade.  I 
have  seen  a  good  deal  of  the  world,  and  nowhere  have  I  found 
shopkeepers  and  traders  so  honest  as  in  the  United  States. 
In  the  details  of  business  we  are  reliable,  in  the  great  oper- 
ations we  are  the  most  unscrupulous  nation  in  the  \\orkl. 
In  politics  and  large  business  enterprises  we  are  deluding 
and  hypocritical,  but  the  American  shopkeeper  will  give  the 
right  change.  Yet  I  don't  know  that  we  are  much  worse 
than  other  nations  in  floating  pretentious,  high-sounding 
schemes  to  gull  the  public.  England,  however,  has  dropped 
many  pounds  grabbing  at  the  bait  we  offered  of  enormous 
profits.  Cautious  Holland  bought  our  bonds,  worth  par,  at 
fifty  cents  on  the  dollar. 

Drinking-places  are  thick  as  hops,  an  appropriate  simile, 
for  hops  have  a  close  connection  with  drinking.  The  saloons 
all  appear  to  be  well-filled,  the  space  in  front  of  many  of  them 
having  an  array  of  small  tables,  around  which  the  thirsty  con- 
gregate, drinking  gin,  coffee  or  panalcs,  according  to  taste. 
Drunkenness  is  not  seen,  except  occasionally  among  sailors 
and  Americans.  As  I  said  of  Curacoa,  everybody  drinks, 
nobody  gets  drunk.  This  is  the  rule.  Of  course  there  are 
exceptions. 

Swarming  around  the  doors  are  sellers  of  lottery  tickets, 
black,  white,  and  brown,  old  and  young,  men  and  women, 
boys  and  girls,  in  great  numbers,  persistent  in  solicitation, 
undeterred  by  repeated  refusal  to  purchase.  One  is  impor- 
tuned at  every  step  to  buy  a  lottery  ticket,  and  everybody 
buys.  The  full  tickets  for  the  capital  prize  of  $200,000  cost 
$20,  and  they  are  divided  into  twentieths,  so  as  to  be  with- 
in the  reach  of  all,  like  a  judiciously-circulated  contribu- 
tion-plate in  the  well-disciplined  church.  Naturally,  with  a 
constantly-turning  lottery- wheel,  people  become  great  be- 
lievers   in  luck  and  chance,   and   arc   very  superstitious    in 


376  THE    CRUISE    OF   THE    MONTAUK. 

auguries,  signs,  and  omens.  While  sitting  in  the  Pasaje,  a 
ragged  boy,  nine  or  ten  years  old,  came  in  and  asked  us  to 
buy  a  ticket.  I  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but  Mr.  Redding 
said,  "There's  the  boy  who  wanted  us  to  buy  in  O'Reilly 
Street.  Meeting  him  here  is  luck."  He  regarded  him  as  a 
harbinger  of  good  fortune  and  bought  a  half-ticket.  I,  not 
having  so  much  confidence  in  luck,  and  doubtful  if  Dame 
Fortune  lurked  in  the  tattered  folds  of  his  unwashed  integu- 
inenta,  ventured  on  a  tenth,  which,  with  the  ten  per  cent, 
seller's  commission,  cost  $2,20,  paper,  or  eighty-eight  cents 
in  gold.  If  my  number  draws  the  capital  prize,  I  stand  to 
win  $20,000,  or  $8,000  in  gold.  The  number  is  17,361.  If 
I  win  my  $20,000,  I  shall  not  begrudge  the  other  $180,000  to 
the  lucky  holders,  nor  tear  my  hair  (figuratively)  because  I 
did  not  buy  the  whole  ticket.  There  is  nothing  small  about 
me  but  my  feet,  as  poor  Abiel  Heywood  used  to  say.  I  in- 
tend to  devote  my  winnings  to  the  poor.  I  do  so  now.  I 
hereby  sell,  assign,  transfer,  set  over,  and  demise  to  the  poor, 
all  my  right,  title,  and  interest,  absolute  and  contingent,  in 
and  to  ticket  No,  17,361,  and  constitute  and  appoint  the  phi- 
lanthropist Russell  Sage  my  attorney,  to  straddle  the  chance, 
and,  for  me  and  in  my  name,  to  call  the  dividends  or  profits 
thereon  and  put  them  to  the  poor.  Remember  the  number  ! 
17,361.     No  connection  with  any  other. 

This  motley  crowd  of  acolytes  in  the  temple  of  Fortune 
affords  an  example  of  apparent  honesty,  hardly  credible  to 
the  New  Yorker,  who  would  hesitate  to  trust  a  bootblack 
or  newsboy  with  a  half-dollar  to  be  changed.  Here  are 
thousands  of  persons  in  abject  poverty  who  are  intrusted 
with  the  sale  of  tickets  representing  considerable  values.  A 
poor  negro,  not  worth  a  dollar  in  the  world,  has  in  his  hands 
tickets  worth  hundreds  ;  a  barefooted  boy,  with  seventy-five 
cents  worth  of  clothing  on,  will  hand  you  tickets  and  take 


CUBAN   CUSTOMS.  m 

his  twenty  dollars  as  if  there  was  nothing  remarkable  in  the 
transaction.  There  must  be  some  system  of  distribution 
among  the  large  ticket-brokers,  with  surveillance  over  these 
impecunious  peddlers,  but  it  is  not  evident.  On  the  surface 
it  looks  as  if  the  peddlers  were  given  the  tickets  to  sell,  and 
returned  the  unsold  with  the  money  for  those  disposed  of. 
Undoubtedly  the  subagents  know  well  those  whom  they  cm- 
ploy,  for  it  is  not  possible  they  could  trust  with  considerable 
amounts  the  swarm  of  ragamuffins  who  hawk  the  tickets 
through  the  streets  ;  particularly  when  there  is  added  to  the 
liability  of  peculation  the  chance  of  robbery,  by  snatching 
tickets  at  night,  or  dropping  them  in  the  crowded  assemblages 
which  the  peddlers  infest. 

Unquestionably  the  lottery  is  honest,  if  that  term  can  be 
applied  to  gambling  of  any  kind,  about  which  there  is  much 
difference  of  opinion  practically.  True,  the  Apostles  cast 
lots,  and  Mathias  won  the  prize,  but  that  was  holy  gambling, 
like  raffling  or  voting  for  canes  at  church  festivals.  The 
drawing  is  public  and  attracts  a  large  crowd.  It  seems  to  be 
conducted  with  perfect  fairness  and  without  any  opportunity 
for  collusion.  It  is  about  the  honestest  business  in  Havana. 
As  I  understand  it,  the  Government,  which  has  a  certain 
percentage  of  profit,  sells  the  lottery  to  a  Company,  which 
takes  all  the  tickets  and  disposes  of  them  at  an  increase  of 
ten  per  cent,  on  the  face  value,  through  various  subagcncies, 
extending,  b}'  successive  ramifications,  down  to  the  gamins 
of  the  streets.  Perhaps  Dean  Swift's  parasitical  simile  may 
apply  to  illustrate  the  mode  of  disposal  : 

"  So,  naturalists  observe,  a  flea 

Has  smaller  fleas  thai  on  him  prey  ; 
And  these  have  smaller  still  to  bite  'cm  ; 
And  so  proceed  ad  infinitum''' 


378  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

I  have  said  that  everybody  buys  lottery  tickets  ;  that  is, 
everybody  who  has  any  money.  Some  merchants  regularly 
invest  a  certain  amount  in  every  drawing,  just  as  they  en- 
gage in  any  other  business  of  a  speculative  character,  carry- 
ing the  result  to  debit  or  credit  of  Profit  and  Loss  account  as 
it  results.  The  element  of  luck,  which  enters  into  all  com- 
mercial dealings,  is  here,  pure  and  simple.  There  are  no 
droughts,  floods,  or  tempests  to  affect  crops,  upon  which  the 
prices  of  railroad  stocks  depend,  no  pools  or  cutting  rates, 
no  conflagrations  in  great  cities  to  disturb  the  finances,  no 
failures  of  banks,  embezzlements,  or  defalcations  to  frighten 
timid  capital  into  shrinkage  of  values — it  all  depends  on  the 
turn  of  the  wheel.  If  you  hold  the  lucky  number,  you  get  a 
prize  ;  if  it  isn't  drawn,  you  lose  the  cost  of  the  ticket.  Among 
the  fortunate,  some  years  ago,  was  our  friend,  Mr.  Redding, 
who  held  the  ticket  that  won  the  capital  prize.  I  hope  the 
poor  will  be  benefited  by  one-tenth  of  ticket  No.  17,361. 
No  thanks  !  from  the  poor  capitalists  who  swear  off  their 
taxes. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  time  of  the  Havanese  is 
devoted  to  drinking  in  cafes,  smoking  cigarettes,  and  buying 
and  selling  lottery  tickets,  but  the  principal  occupation  seems 
to  be — scratching  wax  matches. 

Yesterday  was  Sunday,  and  the  Commodore  and  I,  like 
good  Christians,  attended  divine  service  in  the  Cathedral  (so 
called,  though  I  believe  it  is  a  parish  church),  a  venerable  gray 
pile,  which  contains  the  ashes  of  Columbus,  brought  here 
from  St.  Domingo.  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the  real  ashes 
are  not  here,  but  in  Genoa,  although  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses this  is  immaterial.  The  only  way  to  settle  the  dispute 
would  be  to  refer  the  question  of  genuineness  to  Columbus 
himself,  as  he  might  be  able  to  identify  his  own  remains,  by 
the  smell,  or  some  peculiarity  known  to  himself;  but  there 


CUBAN    CUSTOMS.  379 

is  no  medium  of  communication  with  him  here,  as  there  are 
no  professional  Spirituahsts  in  Havana. 

The  Cathedral  is  rather  gloomy  inside  with  the  obscurity 
conducive  to  a  proper  devotional  spirit.  Like  all  church  edi- 
fices in  Catholic  countries,  it  has  no  pews,  but  benches  arc 
ranged  along  the  pillars  for  such  as  choose  to  occupy  them. 
Many  ladies  came  in  attended  by  servants  carrying  kneeling 
stools  and  carpets.  We  expected  to  hear  fine  music  from 
the  grand  organ,  but,  after  waiting  a  long  time,  a  priest  ap- 
peared and  said  a  Low  Mass  at  one  of  the  side  altars.  I 
joined  in  the  service  ;  and  after  its  conclusion  we  waited  for  the 
grand  altar  to  be  lighted  up  for  High  Mass,  but  as  there  was 
no  evidence  of  preparation,  the  Commodore  suggested  that 
we  retire,  to  find  a  man  he  knew  in  the  neighborhood,  named 
Dos  Ginchras.  and  we  could  return  in  time  for  the  service. 
As  this  was  a  custom  not  unhonored  in  the  vicinity  of  John 
Street,  in  heretical  Utica,  I  acquiesced.  The  Commodore, 
however,  whose  devotions  have  manifestly  been  more  in  the 
way  of  theatres  than  churches,  stated  the  proposition  rather 
irreverently,  whispering  to  me,  "  Hadn't  we  better  go  out 
between  the  acts  ?"  On  our  return,  we  were  subjected  to  a 
still  further  delay,  and  then  another  priest  appeared  and  said 
a^iother  Low  Mass,  to  a  congregation  that  had  assembled  in 
the  meantime.  It  was  then  noon,  and  we  knew  there  could 
be  no  High  Mass  celebrated  that  day,  so  we  retired  without 
hearing  the  music,  though  we  had  the  benefit  of  two  services. 
The  Commodore,  who,  like  the  average  American,  is  igno- 
rant in  religious  matters,  asked  me  if,  having  been  present  at 
two  services,  one  could  not  be  put  to  our  credit  for  tiic  next 
Sunda\'  in  case  we  failed  to  attend,  I  said  no  ;  in  our  Ciiurch 
we  don't  play  "  laps  and  slams." 

The  last  Sunday  I  spent  in  Havana  before  this,  in  com- 
pany with  Scnor  Gcroninio  Verde,  celebrated  lupulist,  was  a 


38o  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

busier  day.  It  happened  to  be  a  Feast,  which  was  observed 
with  much  pomp  and  ceremony.  Salutes  were  fired  from 
the  forts  and  war-vessels  in  the  harbor,  at  sunrise,  noon,  and 
sunset ;  flags  were  displayed  in  profusion,  and  the  usual  hol- 
iday look  of  Sunday  was  greatly  augmented  by  the  impor- 
tance of  the  high  festival.  We  attended  Mass  at  the  Cathedral 
in  the  morning,  went  to  a  cock-fight  in  the  afternoon,  paid  a 
flying  visit  to  the  circus,  and  in  the  evening  heard  "  La  Favo- 
rita  "  at  the  Opera  House,  excellently  rendered  by  a  fine  com- 
pany.    We  put  in  a  full  day. 

But  this  was  the  Havana  of  other  days.  Its  glory  has 
departed.  The  Opera  House  is  in  a  dilapidated  condition, 
the  roof  sunk  in  from  a  torrent  of  water  precipitated  by  a 
defect  in  the  pipes  (they  have  plumbers  in  Havana),  and 
there  is  no  prospect  of  its  reparation  unless  they  levy  a 
special  tax  for  plumbing.  No  opera  is  heard  in  Havana  now, 
not  even  a  theatrical  company  is  playing  ;  there  is  no  circus 
(the  American  was  in  full  blast  when  I  was  here  before),  and 
the  immense  Tacon  Theatre  is  devoted  to  the  manifestations 
of  a  professor  of  legerdemain,  Don  Patricio,  an  Italian  count 
of  eminent  mystic  expertness.  The  stringency  of  the  times 
chokes  amusement. 

We  had  hoped  to  attend  a  bull-fight  at  Regla,  but  there 
was  none,  on  account  of  the  Romeria,  or  fair,  literally  pilgrim- 
age, at  Almendares,  for  the  benefit  of  the  hospitals.  As  we 
couldn't  see  a  bull-fight,  we  resolved  to  take  in  the  pilgrim- 
age. We  found  consolation  for  our  disappointment  in  being 
told  that  bull-fights  are  tame  affairs  latterly  ;  the  animals  lack 
ferocity  and  it  is  seldom  that  a  picador  is  killed.  Such  list- 
less tauronaments  would  have  little  attraction  for  us.  We 
want  danger  for  our  money.  We  don't  care  to  see  a  spindle- 
.shanked  Spaniard,  in  shabby  velveteen  jacket,  rusty  russet- 
leather  leggings,  and  red  cotton  sash,  prodding  a  lot  of  lazy 


CUBAN   CUSTOMS.  38 1 

old  bulls  around  the  arena,  like  Daniel  Drew  of  yore  steer- 
ing a  drove  of  steers  to  the  liull's  Head  yards.  No,  SeAor  ! 
We  want  gore,  we  do.  Give  us  blood  !  as  the  Members  of 
Congress  shouted  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  then  val- 
iantly plunged  into  the  thickest  of  remoteness  from  the  fray. 

I  suppose  a  major  portion  of  the  interest  in  a  trapeze  ex- 
hibition is  the  chance  that  the  performer  may  fall  and  brealv 
his  neck.  What  an  advantage  the  fortunate  spectator  of  one 
of  these  accidents  has  over  the  attendant  at  a  common,  hiun- 
drum  performance,  where  nothing  extraordinary  or  thrilling 
happens.  He  has  something  to  talk  about.  He  who  lias 
been  an  eye-witness  of  a  fatal  trapeze  accident  is  quite  a  hero 
in  a  small  town  ;  he  becomes  a  village  oracle,  like  the  man 
who  crossed  Brooklyn  Bridge  the  day  it  was  opened  to  the 
public. 

We  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Almendares  in  carriages.  This 
is  a  much  more  comfortable  way  than  the  via  dolorosa  of  the 
ancient  pilgrims,  who  went  afoot,  with  staff  and  scrip,  wear- 
ing penitential  pease  in  their  sandals.  I  always  regarded  the 
story  that  some  of  them  boiled  the  pease  before  starting  as  a 
slander.  It  is  more  probable  that  they  used  green  pease. 
Corns  grew  apace  with  their  long  journeys,  and  these,  mixed 
with  the  pease,  may  have  made  the  original  succotash.  Here 
is  a  suggestion  for  Notes  and  Queries  regarding  the  origin  of 
that  never-to-be-too-highly-commended  dish.  Perhaps  it  was 
not  an  Indian  invention  after  all,  but  a  pious  bequest  of  the 
Crusades. 

The  road  to  Almendares  was  thronged  with  vehicles, 
regulated  by  mounted  policemen,  fully  armed  with  sabre, 
carbine,  and  pistol.  This  force  is  an  exceptionally  fine  body 
of  men.  Being  Sunday,  all  the  world  was  out.  Every  va- 
riety of  equipage  was  to  be  seen,  from  the  handsome  car- 
riage, with  liveried  servants,  to  the  costermonger's  donkey- 


382  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

cart.  The  Captain-General's  coach  and  the  cheap  cab  were 
cheek  by  jowl.  It  was  something  like  the  road  to  Epsom 
Downs  on  Derby  day,  except  that  there  was  good  order  and 
decorum,  and  none  of  the  rude  bumptiousness  and  insolence 
that  mark  the  English  racing  holiday.  The  vulgar  English 
crowd  is  offensively  coarse  and  boorish.  Indeed  the  clown- 
ish, low  Englishman  is,  in  uncouth  grossness,  a  peg  beneath 
the  vulgarian  of  any  other  civilized  people.  What  a  contrast 
between  the  Derby  and  the  great  French  race,  the  Grand 
Prix  de  Paris!  Longchamps,  with  the  approaching  road 
through  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  presents  a  view  of  splendor, 
in  dress  and  equipage,  that  can  be  equaled  nowhere  else. 
Havana  has  been  called  the  western  Paris,  but  there  is  a 
great  difference  between  the  gorgeousness  of  the  rich  cos- 
mopolis,  and  the  cheap  imitation  of  poor  Cuba.  New  York 
is  the  most  luxurious  city  in  the  world,  and  is  fast  becoming 
the  most  depraved.  Sodom  must  be  playing  the  role  of 
Arethusa  and  is  oozing  up  between  the  pavements  of  our 
Western  Babylon.  Some  clergyman  will  point  to  the  church- 
going  throng  on  Fifth  Avenue — when  the  Sundays  are  fine — • 
and  get  angry  at  this  paragraph.  Let  him.  It  is  true,  not- 
withstanding his  ignorance.  The  police  know  more  than  the 
clergy,  that  is  unless  they  hear  confessions,  when  they  may 
learn  a  thing  or  two. 

But  a  truce  to  digression  ;  let  us  continue  our  pilgrimage  ! 
I  simply  rested  by  the  wayside  for  a  moment.  I  don't  pre- 
tend to  stick  closely  to  the  path  in  these  rambling  letters.  I 
diverge,  to  jot  down  observations  as  they  occur  to  me  ;  just 
as  the  school-boy,  out  for  a  holiday,  makes  short  runs  on  one 
side  or  the  other,  to  chase  a  butterfly,  pluck  some  pretty 
flower,  stone  a  toad,  or  crush  the  head  of  a  snake. 

The  Romeria  is  a  large  fair.  On  either  hand  are  booths, 
gayly  decorated,  dancing  platforms,  restaurants,  and  drink- 


CUBAN    CUSTOIVIS.  383 

ing-shops.  A  long  line  of  carriages  made  the  circuit  of  the 
grounds,  and  numerous  horsemen  pranced  around,  riding  full 
tilt  without  regard  to  those  on  foot,  kicking  up  a  dust,  and 
making  nuisances  of  themselves  generally.  Why  are  horse- 
men so  anxious  to  show  off?  In  no  other  position  is  vanity 
so  demonstrative  as  on  horseback.  It  is  one  of  the  weak- 
nesses of  human  nature.  Every  man  thinks  he  looks  better 
on  a  horse  than  his  neighbor,  just  as  one  can  poke  the  fire 
better  than  any  other  man.  I  speak  now  of  the  civilian 
equestrian  ;  in  the  army,  the  weak  point  is  acting  as  adjutant 
on  dress  parade.  I  never  saw  an  officer  who  didn't  think 
that  he  excelled  in  the  undulating  grace  and  impressive  dig- 
nity with  which  the  adjutant  marches  forward,  and  announces 
— as  if  the  ears  of  expectant  nations  were  strained  to  catch 
the  portentous  words — "Sir!  the  parade's  formed!"  The 
renowned  soldier,  the  most  successful  commander  of  armies, 
is  not  superior  to  this  weakness. 

The  displayed  pretext  for  naming  this  festal  gathering  a 
pilgrimage  was  a  figure  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  an  artificial 
grotto,  clothed  in  gaudy  robes,  profusely  decked  with  tinsel, 
and  the  object  perhaps  of  some  devotion,  though  we  failed 
to  observe  any  manifestation  of  piety  in  the  sacred  precinct. 
The  Commodore,  commenting  on  the  dusky  color  of  the 
face,  said  he  never  knew  before  that  the  Virgin  Mary  was  a 
mulatto,  but  I  remarked  that  every  eye  had  its  own  idea  of 
beauty,  and  to  the  devout  the  symbolized  conception  of 
sanctity  was  ever  charming.  Resides,  the  Jews  were  bru- 
nettes. The  Madonnas  seen  in  the  galleries  of  Europe  are 
generally  fair,  but  they  were  idealizations  of  the  painter. 
The  olive  skin  and  black  hair  may  be  historically  accurate. 
The  photographer  was  not  abroad  at  Jerusalem.  The  head 
of  John  the  Baptist  was  taken,  but  it  was  taken  off  before  it 
was  taken  on  a  charjier. 


384  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

The  portrait  by  Carlo  Dolce  is  usually  adopted  as  the 
likeness  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  but  there  is  no  conventional 
limning  of  His  Holy  Mother,  generally  accepted,  for  the 
faces  are  as  diverse  as  the  types  of  womanly  beauty,  although 
the  middle-age  pictures  have  established  a  prevailing  individ- 
uality from  which  there  is  no  wide  departure.  Several  of  the 
faces  of  Madonnas  by  the  old  masters  are  said  to  be  portraits 
of  their  mistresses.  Therefore  there  was  nothing  incongru- 
ous in  the  dark  complexion  of  this  figure.  To  the  eye  of  faith, 
it  was  pure  as  the  orient  pearl. 

We  saw  some  quaint  costumes,  which  are  rare  sights  to 
the  traveler  in  these  davs  of  conglomeration.  What  with 
steam,  electricity,  the  facilities  of  travel,  and  a  general  rush- 
ing about  and  mixing  up  in  the  world  ;  the  obliteration  of 
race  prejudices,  the  blending  of  languages,  and  breaking 
down  of  characteristic  barriers  that  divided  peoples,  there  is 
little  to  be  observed  in  traveling,  except  natural  scenery. 
The  American  has  an  opportunity  to  grumble  at  the  stupidity 
of  the  Englishman,  who,  in  his  insular  and  obstinate  self- 
sufficient  knowledge  of  how-not-to-do-it,  refuses  to  adopt  our 
perfect  system  of  checking  luggage,  which  adds  so  much  to 
the  comfort  of  traveling  :  but  the  Yankee  is  accustomed  to 
voyaging  comforts  which  are  luxuries  in  other  parts  of  the 
world. 

Travel  has  become  uninteresting  and  commonplace. 
True,  we  can  taste  the  cold  spring  in  the  Giant's  Causeway  ; 
feel  the  spray  of  the  water-fall  at  Inversnaid  ;  see  Holyrood, 
Abbotsford,  Windermere,  and  Nelson's  Pillar,  in  broad  Sack- 
ville  Street ;  the  Tower  of  London  ;  the  Pare  mix  cerfs  and 
little  Trianon  :  we  can  stumble  over  the  tapis  vert  at  Ver- 
sailles ;  and  rumble  through  the  tunnel  at  Mont  Ccnis,  or 
take  the  breezy  diligence  over  ice-crowned  Alpine  peaks  :  we 
can  see  the  Leaning  Tower  at  Pisa,  and  the  Campanile  of 


CUBAN   CUSTOMS.  385 

Florence  :  we  can  laugh  at  the  tiers  of  brown  faces  on  the 
crowded  vcttura  at  Naples  ;  ascend  Vesuvius,  if  wc  are  fool- 
ish enough  ;  and  see  the  bright  green  lizards  darting  from 
crevices  in  exhumed  walls  at  Herculaneum  :  we  can  stroll 
Untcr  den  Lindc7i ;  or  hear  Strauss  lead  his  orchestra,  mak- 
ing the  beer-glasses  waltz  on  sloppy  tables  at  Vienna  :  we 
can  marvel  at  the  perfect  harmony  of  the  ceiled  mosaics  in 
St.  Peter's,  and  gaze  with  wonder  on  the  gigantic  pen,  which 
from  the  church  floor  looks  like  one  of  ordinary  size  :  we  can 
get  sprinkled  at  the  tricksy  concealed  fountains  at  the  [7/A? 
Pallavicini ;  or  drink  Mountain  Dew  and  goat's  milk  from 
the  flask  of  Kate  Kearney's  white-haired  granddaughter  ;  or 
glide  with  Giovanni  McPherson  in  his  noiseless  gondola,  by 
the  Lion  of  St.  Mark's,  and  under  the  ]^ridge  of  Sighs  ;  or 
get  carved  rulers,  boxes,  and  paper-knives  from  Claude  Mel- 
notte  at  Bellaggio  :  we  can  see  stolid  boors  in  the  streets  of 
droning  Amsterdam  ;  and  watch  the  jabbering  crowd  of 
sailors  at  Marseilles,  and  think  of  Monte  Cristo,  Danglars, 
and  the  Chateau  d'lf  :  we  can  be  shocked  by  drunkenness 
reeling  hideously  through  the  streets  of  Glasgow,  and  look 
at  the  grotesqueries  of  the  can-can  in  the  Closcrie  dcs  Lilas  : 
we  can  buy  watches  at  Geneva  ;  filigree-work  at  Genoa  ; 
meerschaum-pipes  at  Trieste  ;  dainty  egg-shell  porcelain  on 
Lough  Erne  ;  and  genuine  Farina  cologne-water  under  the 
shadow  of  the  cathedral  of  lingering  completion  :  we  can  look 
at  the  outside  of  harems  at  Stamboul  ;  and  be  interxiewed 
by  fleas  in  Cairo — which,  it  may  be  remarked,  in  passing, 
though  Mussulmcn,  are  no  worse  than  their  Christian  cousins 
in  Turin,  which  make  no  pretense  of  observing  fast  da\'s,  but 
gorge  themselves  on  American  fresh  meat  even  on  Fridaxs  : 
we  can  stroll  on  bustling  Monte  Pincio,  and  view  the  surly 
Castle  of  San  Angelo,  and  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  gleaming 
in  the  moonlight,  taking  lessons  meanwhile  in  Italian,  with 
25 


386  THE   CRUISE  OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

the  Tuscan  accent — bella  luna  and  cielo,  Orvieto,  et  cetera — 
if  there  should  happen  to  be  a  noble  young  Roman  matron 
present  as  teacher  :  we  can  see  all  these  things,  but  alas  ! 
from  Omaha  to  Alexandria,  all  dress  alike.  The  shears  of 
the  same  Schneider  pervade  all  traveled  routes.  The  variety 
of  costume,  that  once  gave  interest,  is  gone,  save  in  out-of- 
the-way  places.  Picturesque  costumes  still  nestle  in  unfre- 
quented passes  of  the  Tyrol  ;  at  Killarney  one  sees  the  cord- 
uroys, gray  stockings,  knee-breeches,  extensive  white  linen 
shirt-collar,  high  hat,  and  cota  more  of  the  Irish  peasant ;  and 
sometimes  in  Rome  a  contadina,  in  bright  costume,  scarlet 
and  black  and  yellow,  like  an  oriole,  kneels  before  the  bronze 
statue  of  Jupiter,  which  now  serves  for  St.  Peter,  and  kisses 
the  well-worn  Pope's  toe,  with  becoming  reverence,  first  wip- 
ing off,  with  handkerchief  or  cuff,  the  trace  of  precedent  lips. 
What  a  chance  to  watch  some  pretty  girl  and  follow  her  in 
the  salute,  although  brass  is  a  non- conductor.  I  wonder  if 
anybody  ever  thought  of  that  on  the  spot.  The  osculated 
toe  won't  last  much  longer.  It  is  pretty  far  gone  already  and 
will  soon  be  a  total  wreck  ;  obliterated,  wiped  out  in  toto.  If 
Uncle  John  were  writing  this  he  would  make  a  pun  about 
that  toe  ;  he'll  make  fun  of  anything ;  he  has  no  regard  for 
propriety.  I  don't  know  whether  it  would  answer  just  as 
well  to  kiss  any  other  toe,  but  they  might  have  an  artificial 
one  made.  Artificial  arms  and  legs  are  fabricated,  which  an- 
swer the  purpose,  why  not  artificial  toes  !  They  would  be 
just  as  good  to  kiss  ;  although  I  don't  go  much  on  artificial 
kissing  ;  I  want  it  natural.  There  are  artificial  eyes,  but  I 
never  heard  that  anybody  could  see  out  of  them,  not  even 
the  "  bully  boy  with  a  glass  eye,"  known  to  fame  for  some- 
thing or  other  ;  possibly  as  the  man  who  struck  Billy  Patter- 
son ;  eminent  citizen,  who  has  occupied  a  large  share  of  in- 
terrogative public  attention.     The  eyes  of  the  patroness  of 


CU15AN    CUSTOMS.  387 

the  Romeria  were  glass,  and  while  there  was  no  s])cculation 
in  those  eyes,  tliere  was  much  in  the  views  of  the  Managers, 
for  the  fair  brought  in  a  handsome  sum  to  praiseworthy 
charities,  for  which  all  honor  to  the  projectors  of  the  pilgrim- 
age !  with  some  merit  to  contributing  patrons. 

While  I  assume  a  light  tone  and  careless  manner  in  treat- 
ing these  things,  I  must  not  be  understood  as  speaking  jest- 
ingly of  religion.  I  despise  cant,  hypocrisy,  and  bigotry, 
but  I  honor  sincere  faith  of  any  kind.  One  may  laugh  at  de- 
forming excrescences  on  a  branch,  and  yet  entertain  strong 
admiration  for  the  tree  itself.  There  are  some  things  that 
deserve  to  be  satirized  and  condemned  ;  but  I  see  nothing 
ridiculous  in  these  religious  representations,  although  unac- 
customed to  them  at  home,  where  comparative  simplicity  of 
worship  prevails.  1  portray  them,  therefore,  as  the}'  strike 
one  accustomed  to  less  ostentatious  ceremonies,  in  a  country 
not  yet  wholly  within  the  fold — notwithstanding  the  efforts 
of  Monsignor  Capel.  In  the  United  States,  the  devotional 
accessories  are  more  in  keeping  with  puritanical  forms,  for, 
deny  it  as  we  may,  virile  puritanism  has  tinged  all  creeds,  as 
I  have  heretofore  asserted  in  the  matter  of  Sunday  obser- 
vance, the  only  race  contingent  unaffected  in  our  vast  com- 
bined force  being  the  German.  The  sturdy  Germans  adhere 
stubbornly  to  the  habits  of  fatherland,  uninfluenced  b\'  their 
surroundings.  Some  years  ago,  I  had  occasion  to  draw  an 
illustration  from  this  people,  and  I  used  the  following  lan- 
guage, which  I  have  seen  no  reason  to  modify  : 

"  They  are  the  best  citizens  we  have  in  America;  better 
than  any  other  nationality  of  foreign  birth,  better  than  the 
average  of  native  born.  They  are  industrious,  frugal,  tem- 
perate, intelligent,  truthful,  self-reliant,  manly,  and  indej)en- 
dent.  The  (ierman  drinks  his  lager,  pays  his  debts,  lives  with 
his  own  family,  has  no  dyspepsia,  keeps  out  of  the  poor-house 


388  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

and  jail,  and,  most  commendable  trait  of  all,  minds  his  own 
business. 

"  The  German  is  no  hypocrite.  If  a  Catholic,  he  hears 
Mass,  if  a  Lutheran,  he  attends  divine  worship,  on  Sunday 
morning,  if  a  Free  Thinker,  he  stays  at  home  and  smokes  his 
pipe.  He  doesn't  go  to  church  because  his  neighbor  does, 
nor  profess  to  believe  what  he  disbelieves  ;  he  makes  no  in- 
sincere demonstration  by  attending  a  church  to  be  seen,  and 
using  a  mantle  of  fashionable  religion  as  a  convenient  cloak 
in  secular  affairs.  Sunday  afternoon,  the  Catholic,  the  Lu- 
theran, and  the  Free  Thinker  meet  amicably,  in  beer-gardens 
and  other  decent  places  of  resort,  and  enjoy,  innocently,  with 
their  wives  and  families,  the  blessings  which  have  been  ac- 
corded them." 

In  the  German  Catholic  churches  of  America,  vv^ill  be  seen 
figures,  emblems,  and  representations,  which  appear  tawdry 
and  out-of-taste  to  the  English-speaking  religionists,  unused 
to  the  display.  Thus  we  see  in  German  churches  the  toy 
cradle  and  the  stable  of  Bethlehem  at  Christmas,  which  is 
becoming  adopted  by  degrees  in  the  American  places  of  wor- 
ship. 

But  let  us  respect  faith  w^herever  we  find  it  !  This  is  the 
age  of  skepticism,  of  doubt  and  infidelity,  the  era  of  sneers, 
of  disbelief  in  religion  and  virtue;  a  mean,  hard,  sordid,  un- 
chivalrous  epoch,  and  withal  a  hypocritical  period  ;  which 
demonstrates  La  Rochefoucauld's  apophthegm  :  "  Hypocrisy 
is  the  homage  that  vice  pays  to  virtue." 

The  greater  proportion  of  those  who  attend  the  Romeria 
are  actuated  by  the  motive  that  prompted  us — curiosity,  and 
a  desire  for  amusement  ;  but  if  there  are  those  who  find  in 
the  gaudily-attired  figure  of  the  Virgin,  with  gilt-spangled 
robes,  an  object  of  veneration — let  us  respect  the  feeling  that 
inspires   devotion  !     The  wayfarer,  kneeling  at  the   roadside 


CUBAN    CUSTOMS.  389 

cross  in  Brittany  ;  the  devotee  before  the  village  shrine  in 
Italy  ;  the  hooded  old  woman,  telling  her  beads  with  toil- 
seamed  hands,  before  she  goes  out  to  earn  her  daily  bread  by 
weary  toil,  in  the  gray  w^inter's  morning,  during  the  Lenten 
season,  within  the  chilly  walls  of  a  New  York  church,  repre- 
sent faith.  Let  us  pay  it  homage,  Messieurs  the  sncerers 
and  scoffers  at  religion,  the  doubters  of  honesty  in  men  and 
virtue  in  women  !  There  is  such  a  thing  as  religion  ;  there 
are  honest  men  ;  there  are  virtuous  women.  True  there  are 
hypocrites  as  well,  and  there  always  will  be.  The  devil 
lurks  behind  the  cross. 

• 

"  Wherever  God  erects  a  house  of  prayer. 
The  devil  always  builds  a  chapel  there  ; 
And  'twill  be  found,  upon  examination, 
The  latter  has  the  largest  congregation." 

It  is  fashionable  to  ridicule  crosses,  pictures,  images,  and 
the  symbolical  adornments  of  Christian  temples  of  worship. 
This  is  wrong.  They  stimulate  devotion.  What  influence 
so  purifying  and  elevating  as  good  music  !  Yet  the  Puritan, 
who  carries  detestation  of  forms  to  excess,  would  banish  the 
best,  and  worship  with  only  the  poorest,  music.  The  Mar- 
seillaise fired  the  heart  of  the  French  people;  Die  Wacht  am 
RJicin  is  an  inspiring  strain  to  the  Germans  ;  and  the  Wear- 
ing of  the  Green  stirs  the  Irish-American  blood  into  a  patri- 
otic desire  to  vote  the  Democratic  ticket,  nominated  by  the 
Know  Nothings.  Why  not  grand  music  to  inspire  devotit)nal 
thought  ?  What  are  the  colors  of  his  regiment  to  the  soldier, 
for  which  he  fights  and  dies  ?  lie  sees  the  flag  of  his  coun- 
try ;  his  standard  ;  it  represents  patriotism,  fidelity,  courage, 
Io\-alty.  It  is  the  embodiment  of  noble  and  lofty  ideas.  I 
see  that  there   is  a  movement   on  foot  to   do  away  with  the 


390  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

colors  in  the  English  army.  How  sentiment  is  sacrificed  to 
utilitarianism  and  economy  ! 

The  cross  is  the  standard  of  the  Christian  army.  It  is 
a  great  consolation  to  the  devout  Catholic  to  make  the  sign 
of  the  cross  when  in  peril.  The  next  time  you  see  Booth  in 
"  Hamlet,"  observe,  when  the  Ghost  appears,  how  Hamlet 
holds  his  sword  between  himself  and  the  shape,  hilt  upper- 
most. The  hilt  is  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  Hamlet  inter- 
poses the  sacred  sign  before  the  spectre,  as  a  safeguard  and 
protection  against  an  evil  spirit.  It  is  faith  ;  it  is  superstition  ; 
it  is  beautiful.  And  yet  the  cross  was  a  sacred  symbol  with 
some  heathen  peoples  before  the  coming  of  Christ. 

I  have  heard  men  denounce  pictures  and  lights  and  flow- 
ers in  churches,  who  had  choice  paintings  in  their  own  dwell- 
ings, who  lighted  their  tables  with  gleaming  wax  candles,  in 
silver  candelabra,  and  filled  gold  and  crystal  epergnes  with 
fragrant  flowers.  Is  not  the  sanctuary  of  the  Most  High  as 
worthy  of  adornment  as  the  residence  of  the  usurer,  built  of 
flinty-hearted  oppression,  cemented  with  tear-mixed,  selfish 
cruelty  ?  We  object  to  a  painting  of  the  Crucifixion  in  a 
church,  we  consider  it  idolatrous  to  have  Rubens'  Descent 
from  the  Cross,  or  Murillo's  Immaculate  Conception,  before 
us  when  we  kneel  to  pray,  while  we  place  the  portraits  of 
father  and  mother  on  the  library  wall,  and  invest  them  with 
reverential  regard.  He  would  be  a  depraved  man  who  could 
do  any  wicked  deed  with  the  reproachful  eyes  of  a  dead 
mother  looking  at  him  from  the  frame  of  her  portrait.  Ah  ! 
the  iconoclastic  puritan  has  much  to  answer  for  in  depriving 
religion  of  its  sentimentality.  He  stripped  off  the  covering, 
even  to  the  bare  bones  of  faith,  and  now  the  unprotected 
dry  bones  are  crumbling.  Soon  practical  unfaith  will  rule 
supreme  with  the  multitude.  Let  the  simple  peasants  of 
Cuba,  then,  do  homage  to  the  figure  of  the  copper-colored 


CUBAN   CUST(3MS.  39 1 

Blessed  Virgin  at  the  Romcria  !  the  emblem  of  womanly 
purity  ;  the  incarnation  of  Chastity  ;  Star  of  the  Sea  ;  Mater 
Admirabilis  ! 

An  attractive  feature  of  the  fair  was  the  congregation  of 
Catalans,  in  their  native  costume  ;  knee-breeches  and  toques, 
of  green  and  red,  prettily  arranged  in  tasteful  variety,  and 
presenting,  as  they  moved  in  groups,  a  fanciful,  kaleidoscopic 
effect. 

We  left  before  sundown,  and  met  a  long  line  of  carriages 
in  the  road.  It  seems  that  the  greatest  crowd  is  in  the  even- 
ing, when  the  grounds  are  lighted  up  and  there  is  a  display 
of  fireworks.  The  fair  continues  all  night,  and,  although  the 
hilarity  is  more  demonstrative  and  crescendo  as  the  hours  go 
by,  I  am  informed  that  there  is  but  little  intoxication,  no 
fighting  and  disorder,  and,  while  disreputable  characters  come 
out  from  their  retreats  in  greater  numbers  under  the  shade 
of  night,  there  is  no  indecorum.  We  certainly  could  not  say 
as  much  for  a  New  York  Romeria. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

MR.   POYNINGS  ROGGSTER. 

In  the  Gulf  Stream,  April  22,  1884. 
Accompanying  us  on  the  carnival  pilgrimage  to  Almen- 
dares,  was  an  English  gentleman,  traveling  in  the  West  In- 
dies, and  intending  eventually  to  visit  the  United  States,  to 
see  the  country  and  enjoy  a  few  days  buffalo-hunting.  Evi- 
dently he  was  not  well  informed  regarding  the  westward 
stride  of  civilization,  for  he  expected  to  hunt  the  buffalo  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  or  somewhere  in  Michigan.  The 
Commodore  told  him  that  buffaloes  were  getting  scarce  in 
the  region  of  Detroit,  but  there  was  a  place  on  Lake  Erie, 
named  Buffalo  on  account  of  its  gamy  savor,  where  he  might 
find  some  sport  wnth  bears  if  he  could  strike  a  good  guide. 
I  said  that  I  had  myself  seen  the  noble  buffalo  hunted  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mohawk,  but  the  animals  came  once  a  year, 
driven  in  by  a  famous  hunter  and  army-scout,  the  Honorable 
Mr.  Cody,  Member  of  Parliament  from  a  Rocky  Mountain 
borough,  who,  because  the  bison  is  his  business,  has  been 
nicknamed  Buffalo  Bill.  Mr.  Roggster  asked  about  ante- 
lopes, which  he  had  heard  were  numerous  on  the  banks  of 
the  Susquehanna,  familiar  to  him  through  Cooper's  novels 
and  Campbell's  Gertrude  of  Wyoming,  but  we  told  him  that 
they  had  been  killed  off  during  the  war  to  feed  our  army, 
jerked  venison  and  dried  antelope-meat  being  part  of  the 
soldier's  daily  ration,  except  on  Friday,  when,  out  of  compli- 
ment to   the  Sixty-ninth,    smoked   salmon   was    substituted. 


MR.  rOYNIXGS    ROCGSTKR.  393 

Elks  were  sometimes  found  drinking  at  a  Dam  near  a  forest 
in  the  centre  of  Manhattan  Island,  but  it  was  against  the  law 
to  shoot  them  without  procuring  a  permit  from  the  Head 
Rangers,  Colonel  Sellers,  the  military  Chief  Forester,  and 
Bardwell  Slote,  a  civil  Member  of  Congress.  Lambs  are 
very  good  game  when  wild,  but  the  boars  were  making  away 
with  them,  although  a  hunting  association,  known  as  the 
*'  Lambs  Club,"  has  been  organized  for  their  protection. 
They  occasionally  find  an  American  tiger  to  fight  in  Chicago. 
We  imparted  to  our  interested  guest  (with  much  reluct- 
ance, for  we  hated  to  decry  our  own  country  and  hold  up  its 
foibles  to  foreign  censure)  a  variety  of  vastly  entertaining  in- 
formation not  found  in  encyclopaedias  and  gazetteers.  He 
marveled  greatly  at  our  political  methods  ;  and  was  especially 
surprised  to  learn  that  New  York  aldermen  were  selected  in 
Ireland,  by  agents  sent  out  for  the  purpose,  and  were  im- 
ported, and  had  their  steerage-passage  paid  by  the  Govern- 
ment, just  as  the  Mormon  ranks  are  recruited  in  England 
and  Wales,  Ireland  being  poor  missionary  ground  for  the 
Mormons,  owing  to  some  peculiar  scrupulous  characteristics 
of  the  Irish  women.  He  disapproved  of  the  method  of  elect- 
ing members  of  Western  Legislatures,  as  Buffalo  Bill  was 
chosen,  by  shooting  at  a  mark  and  seating  the  successful 
marksman  ;  for,  as  he  justly  observed,  a  man  might  be  a 
capital  shot  without  possessing  the  necessary  qualifications 
for  a  capital  legislator.  I  said  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
the  members  would  only  shoot  the  Lobby,  but  they  don't  ; 
they  only  make  it  come  down.  Uncle  John  claimed  to  be  so 
impressed  by  Mr.  Roggster's  forcible  and  earnest  argument 
on  this  question  of  representation,  that  he  promised  to  pre- 
pare an  article  on  the  subject  and  have  it  published  in  the 
Police  Gazette,  a  newspaper  largely  devoted  to  the  illustra- 
tion of  governmental  problems,  and  the  enforcement  of  puni- 


394  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

tory  enactments,  particularly  the  game  laws  regulating  sport- 
ing. He  had  a  misgiving,  though,  about  his  personal  safety, 
as  some  sitting  member,  elected  by  the  target  companies, 
might  resent  his  radical  interference  with  the  established  order 
of  things  and  shoot  him  for  meddling  ;  but  Mr.  Roggster 
suggested  that  he  might  do  it  impersonally,  just  as  the  irre- 
sponsible editor  slanders  public  men,  whereupon  Uncle  John's 
mind  seemed  to  be  relieved  of  a  great  anxiety  and  he  ex- 
pressed himself  reassured. 

Mr.  Roggster  was  a  furious  free-trader  and  attacked  the 
tariff  with  much  spirit.  He  commented  severely  upon  the 
terrorism  of  public  opinion  which  compelled  candidates  for 
office  to  burn  large  quantities  of  oil  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
couraging home  production  of  naphtha.  I  remarked  that 
these  students,  not  only  wasted  the  midnight  oil  of  kerosene, 
but  also  consumed  large  quantities  of  fusel-oil,  in  their  march- 
ing through  the  paths  of  knowledge,  guided  by  the  subsidized 
torch  which  threw  light  upon  debatable  questions  of  political 
economy.  Ours  is  a  free  government;  we  bring  up  the  youth 
of  America  in  the  intelligent  knowledge  of  politics  ;  we  drill  it 
into  them — fours  left,  column  forward,  march  !     Boom  !  Ah  ! 

We  disabused  Mr.  Roggster's  mind  of  the  impression  he 
had  received,  from  reading  the  newspapers,  that  Garfield  was 
assassinated  during  an  Insurrection,  organized  by  the  Arthur 
revolutionists  to  get  possession  of  the  administration,  after 
the  manner  of  South  American  Republicans  ;  and  explained 
that  John  Kelly  was  not  an  outlaw,  the  head  of  a  band  of 
desperadoes,  like  the  Irish  rapparees,  but  a  reputable  citizen, 
highly  esteemed  for  the  purity  of  his  private  life,  and  re- 
spected for  his  powerful  influence — by  those  with  whom  he 
sided.  We  explained  to  him  the  workings  of  our  judiciary 
system,  which,  framed  by  the  learned  jurisconsult.  Lynch, 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  is  the  most  expeditious 


MR.  POYNINGS    ROGGSTER.  395 

and  efficient  administration  of  law  to  be  found  in  the  world. 
It  is  superior  to  the  Justinian  Code,  the  foundation  of  our 
lazy,  inadequate  common  law,  or  the  Code  Napoleon.  We 
are  a  progressive  people,  scorning  the  trammels  of  dilatory 
red-tape,  and  the  celerity  of  this  code  is  well  adapted  to  our 
express  use  :  it  is  C.  O.  D.  Its  judgment,  once  entered 
up,  operates  as  an  estoppel  to  further  proceedings.  There 
is  no  appeal  for  the  defendant  to  a  higher  court ;  the  lynch 
is  the  conclusive  higher  law  in  itself 

The  freshness  of  that  young  man  was  tempered  with  an 
astonishing  infusion  of  useful  knowledge  that  would  be 
looked  for  without  success  in  the  Dictionary  of  Phrase  and 
Fable.  When  he  inquired  if  the  Irish  did  not  rule  America, 
I  was  forced  to  acknowledge  that  they  did.  Nearly  all  the 
policemen  are  Irish,  so  are  the  firemen,  actors,  pugilists, 
pedestrians,  plumbers,  porters,  cabmen,  and  base-ball  players. 
An  Irishman  was  once  Mayor  of  New  York,  but  fortunately 
the  Constitution,  framed  before  the  Hibernian  invasion,  ren- 
dered any  but  a  natural  born  citizen  ineligible  to  the  office  of 
President;  otherwise  Parnell  would  be  chosen,  if  the  "  Fara- 
downs  "  and  "  bloody  Tips  "  could  be  induced  to  agree.  Mr. 
Roggster  said  we  had  reason  to  be  thankful  for  that,  as  the 
election  of  Parnell  would  precipitate  a  war  with  England, 
which  would  raise  the  price  of  American  oysters  and  canvas- 
back  ducks  in  the  London  market. 

Although  grossly  deficient  in  American  geographical 
knowledge,  and  laughably  gullible  in  his  ready  swallowing  of 
our  quizzes  (we  could  hardly  keep  our  faces  straight  while 
cramming  him  with  absurdities),  Mr.  Roggster  was  evidently 
an  old  traveler,  quite  up  to  snuff,  and,  it  may  be  said,  to 
cigars  also,  for  he  smoked  a  quantity  of  the  Commodore's 
Henry  Clay  cxqiiisitos,  with  a  relish  that  evinced  a  critical 
taste  in  tobacco,  rarely  found  in  an  Englishman,  used  to  the 


39^  THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  MONTAUK. 

Regent  Street  "  Londres  "  brand.  He  dropped  his  h's  oc- 
casionally, but  it  was  not  an  habitual  elision,  and  we  attri- 
buted his  vocal  lapses  to  contact  with  grooms  and  others 
where  one  insensibly  absorbs  imperfections  of  speech  by  de- 
filing verbal  association.  We  had  some  idea  of  English 
capacity  for  drinking,  but  his  success  in  this  line  was  a  reve- 
lation of  enormous  reserve  force.  From  the  ante  of  Lauds, 
and  the  Nones'  libation,  even  to  the  Compline  pileoluin,  he 
was  punctual  in  his  devotions.  As  for  eating,  his  exploits 
were  simply  Gargantuan.  To  see  him  get  away  with  (I  be- 
lieve that  is  the  way  to  describe  it,  according  to  the  Vassar 
College  vocabulary)  a  porter-house  steak,  incidentally  at 
breakfast,  would  excite  the  envy  of  a  Chautauqua  granger  at 
a  donation-party.  He  played  euchre  excellently,  which  was 
remarkable,  as  the  game  is  comparatively  unknown  in  Eng- 
land. Uncle  John  thought  he  could  apply  to  him  the  com- 
mon remark  that  he  played  too  well  for  a  gentleman. 
Through  the  astute  diplomacy  of  Minister  Schenck,  the  great 
American  game  of  draw-poker  has  become  a  naturalized  sub- 
ject in  Great  Britain,  and  is  now  entitled  to  the  protection  of 
the  American  citizen.  It  is  said  to  be  a  prime  favorite  at 
Windsor  Castle,  the  Judge  and  Jury,  and  other  haunts  of  the 
English  world  of  fashion.  If  Schenck  had  but  represented 
our  nation  (small  a)  when  Almack's  flourished,  and  in  the 
palmy  days  of  Crockford's,  there  might  be  no  necessity  now 
for  Fenian  invasions  of  Canada.  He  would  have  skinned  the 
British  lion  alive,  and  long  ere  this,  Sheffield  and  Birmingham 
would  have  been  bid  in  by  the  O'Merhiadchaboo,  on  de- 
faulted "  coups,"  and  the  gangers  would  have  been  banished, 
like  snakes  from  the  ould  sod,  and  sent  to  the  State  of  Maine. 
I  never  heard  that  the  game  was  introduced  at  Evans'  cider- 
cellar.  That  old-time,  just-before-midnight  resort  is  closed. 
We  shall  never  again  drop  in  from  Covent  Garden  Theatre 


MR.  rOYMNGS   ROG(;STER.  397 

to  taste  the  deviled-kidney,  the  broiled  bone  or  Welsh  rare- 
bit;  never  more  quaff  the  foaming  ale,  or  thripny-worth  of 
"  cold  without,"  to  the  music  of  trained  voices  of  the  boy- 
choir  ;  never  again  tell  the  doorkeeper,  as  we  pass  out,  what 
we  have  had  and  pay  him  therefor,  he  taking  our  word  with- 
out question,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  American  distrustful- 
ness.  I  don't  think  Schenck  introduced  poker  at  the  cider- 
cellar  ;  the  only  poker  used  there  was  in  mulling  wine. 

Our  meeting  with  "  Mr.  Poynings  Roggster,  the  Larches, 
Devon  Hill" — for  so  his  card  read — was  accidental,  on  the 
surface.  He  came  alongside  and  inquired  if  we  knew  where 
the  yacht  Fortuna  was,  as  he  had  letters  for  the  owner.  The 
Commodore  invited  him  to  come  aboard,  when  he  showed 
us  the  envelopes  of  his  letters  addressed  to  Commodore 
Hovey,  some  of  them  having  the  stamp  of  the  United  Service 
Club,  London.  With  customary  hospitality,  the  Commodore 
invited  the  English  gentleman  to  dine  with  us,  as  dinner  was 
on  the  point  of  being  served.  He  accepted,  after  some  hesi- 
tation, and  had  transferred  from  the  waiting  hack-boat  his 
satchel  ;  an  immense  gray  canvas  traveling-bag,  with  die 
initials  P.  R.  embroidered  in  monogram,  surmounted  by  his 
crest,  a  boar's  head  erased,  out  of  a  ducal  coronet.  He  said 
he  had  just  arrived  by  the  English  steamer,  was  going  to  the 
Hotel  Telegrafo,  and  stopped  on  his  way  to  inquire  for  the 
Fortuna.  We  sat  on  deck,  smoking  the  after-dinner  cigar, 
when  the  Commodore  suggested  that  it  was  hardly  worth 
while  for  him  to  go  ashore  that  night,  and  invited  him  to 
occupy  one  of  the  vacant  state-rooms.  To  this  tlie  English- 
man demurred  at  first,  saying  sometliing  about  his  traps  at 
the  Custom  House,  but  when  it  was  urged  that  the  office 
was  closed  and  he  could  pass  no  luggage  that  night,  he  con- 
sented. 

The  next  morning  he  went  ashore  to  look  after  his  property, 


398  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

leaving  that  canvas  receptacle,  big  enough  for  a  hospital-tent, 
in  care  of  the  steward.  When  he  returned  at  dinner-time, 
he  said  that  his  luggage  was  passed,  but  he  had  determined 
to  leave  it  in  the  Custom  House  until  he  sailed  for  New  York, 
as  he  had  a  few  little  toilet  articles  in  his  hand-bag  that  would 
answer  his  requirements.  He  made  no  motion  to  leave,  but 
took  to  the  state-room  with  as  much  nonchalance  as  if  he  were 
the  Commissioner,  its  rightful  occupant.  When  the  Commo- 
dore and  I  returned  from  Mass,  about  noon  the  next  day,  he 
said  that  he  had  some  curiosity  to  witness  the  Romeria  and 
would  accompany  us.  About  this  time  there  became  visible, 
near  the  horizon  of  our  contemplation,  a  dawning  idea  of 
English  sang-froid,  which  we  observed,  but  did  not  comment 
upon  audibly,  taking  our  revenge  on  the  guest  who  made 
himself  so  much  at  home  by  filling  him  with  bams  about 
the  United  States,  regarding  which  foreigners  are  know- 
nothings. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  find  one  more  at  ease  in  the 
Romeria  than  was  this  English  gentleman,  so  green  about 
shooting  and  politics  in  America.  Through  the  introduction 
of  Mr.  Redding,  we  made  some  acquaintances  among  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  carriages,  but  the  inch  of  presen- 
tation became  an  ell  of  familiarity  with  Mr.  Roggster.  While 
chatting  with  some  newly-formed  acquaintances,  Mr.  Redding, 
placing  his  hand  on  my  arm,  exclaimed,  "  See  there  ;  see 
Avhere  Johnny  Bull  is  !  "  and  turning  my  eyes  in  the  direction 
indicated,  I  saw  the  man  with  a  good  appetite  and  chronic 
thirst  seated  in  a  carriage,  opposite  a  most  beautiful  girl,  con- 
versing with  as  much  ease  and  aplomb  as  if  he  were  an  old 
friend.  "  How  the  deuce  did  that  duffer  get  there  ?  "  said  Mr. 
Redding  (who  has  inherited  from  Phenician  ancestry  a  dislike 
for  the  Briton)  ;  "she's  the  prettiest  and  richest  girl  in  Ha- 
vana, and  there   that  cheeky  fellow  sits   talking  to    her   as 


MR.  POYNINGS   ROGGSTER.  399 

familiarly  as  if  he  had  known  her  a  dozen  years.  She  was  a 
most  charming  creature,  with  a  warm-tinted,  fair  complexion, 
light  brown  hair,  and  large  purple  eyes,  glimmering  with 
the  velvety  pansy  look.  \Vc  didn't  approach  wliile  the  son 
of  Albion  sat  there,  perched  like  a  human  Gibraltar  to  keep 
out  other  powers,  but  we  vowed  that  another  sun  should  not 
set  with  that  audacious  Anglo-Saxon  as  our  guest.  On  our 
way  back,  while  taking  a  glass  of  Manzanilla  (a  light,  dr\' 
sherry,  something  like  Rhine  wine,  very  generally  drunk 
here)  at  a  wayside  bibulariuni,  he  remarked,  with  a  complac- 
ent drawl,  that  Seflorita  Torini  was  quite  a  swell  girl,  much 
to  his  taste,  and  that  he  would  cultivate  the  old  man  if  he 
were  not  going  to  New  York  so  soon.  We  glared  at  him, 
but  he  was  as  unmoved  as  a  fly  in  a  railroad  eating-house 
milk-jug. 

After  dinner,  Mr.  Poynings  Roggster  asked  permission 
to  write  a  few  lines  "  'ome,"  occupying  the  saloon  while  we 
sat  on  deck  smoking.  He  must  have  appreciated  that  he 
had  become  de  trop^  for  when  he  joined  us  he  expressed  re- 
gret at  being  forced  to  go  away  that  night  ;  and  so  took  his 
leave,  first  filling  his  pockets  with  some  especially  choice 
regalia  Britannica  cigars,  which  he  said  coolly  would  keep 
him  going  until  he  could  order  some  made  according  to  his 
taste  at  the  Carolina  factory.  We  were  glad  to  get  rid  of 
him  on  any  terms,  and  our  response  to  his  acknowledgment 
of  hospitality  was  a  fervent,  heartfelt  speeding  of  our  slowly- 
parting  guest.  The  Commodore  grumbled,  "  When  you 
catch  me  again  doing  the  polite  thing  to  a  strange  gentleman 
with  letters  to  another  yacht,  you  may  get  me  to  buy  a  gold 
mine,  go  to  the  Legislature,  or  become  keeper  in  a  lunatic 
asylum." 

The  next  day  one  of  the  coracle-like  boats  that  ply  in 
the  harbor  came  out  to  the  yacht,  and  a  tall,  white-haired,  dig- 


400  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

nified  gentleman  stepped  on  deck,  and  handed  a  card  to  the 
quartermaster,  on  which  was  engraved  Sr.  Jose  Patricio 
Torini.  He  was  accompanied  by  an  interpreter  who  ex- 
plained what  he  had  to  say,  but  this  did  not  convey  the  mani- 
fest agitation  which  he  endeavored  inefifectually  to  suppress. 
The  gentleman  placed  in  the  Commodore's  hand  a  sheet  of 
paper,  with  the  Montauk  heading,  the  private  and  Club  sig- 
nals crossed,  in  colors,  which  contained  these  lines  : 


TO    SEROLENA. 

COMPOSED    AT    THE    ROMERIA,    BY    HER    FERVENT   ADMIRER, 
POYNINGS    ROGGSTER. 

A  dainty  form,  with  supple  grace 

That  sets  one  longing  to  embrace  ; 

A  lily  hand,  with  tender  clasp 

To  nestle  in  responsive  grasp  ; 

A  foot  of  faultless  flexile  mould' 

For  fairy  slipper  to  enfold  ; 

Eyes,  lustrous,  almond-shaped,  benign 

(Which  in  my  heart  deep-mirrored  shine), 

Pure  blanched  teeth,  whose  dazzling  white 

Fills  raptured  vision  with  delight ; 

Brown  hair,  with  sunbeams  glancing  through 

To  light  the  charms  which  thick  bestrew ; 

Red  rose-leaf  lips  of  kisses  made — 

For  him  to  pluck  who's  not  afraid  ; 

A  downy  cheek,  that  conscious  blood 

Suffuses  with  rich,  crimson  flood, 

Then  ebbs,  in  ling'ring  lambent  flow, 

To  quench  the  tell-tale  blushes'  glow ; 

A  head  firm-poised  on  pliant  neck. 

To  mark  the  beauties  which  bedeck 

A  face  of  chiseled  classic  cast — 

In  memory  shrined  while  life  shall  last. 


MR.  POYXINGS   ROGGSTER.  4OI 

The  honey  which  the  tongue  distills, 
In  laughing,  sparkling,  rippling  rills, 
Might  bring  my  bruis'd  soul  healing  bahn  ; 
With  soft  assuagement,  sweetly  calm. 
Would  she  but  deign  to  smile  on  me. 
From  griefs  enslavement  set  me  free, 
.  I'd  love  her  till  eternity. 

The  stately  gentleman  flew  into  a  violent  rage  as  the  in- 
terpreter read  off  these  lines  in  Spanish.  It  seems  that  her 
duefia  had  been  bribed  to  hand  the  verses  to  his  daughter, 
who,  educated  at  a  New  York  convent,  spoke  English  per- 
fectly. Another  billet,  dated  from  the  San  Carlos  hotel,  was 
intercepted,  asking  her  to  make  an  appointment  to  meet  the 
writer  that  afternoon  in  the  Paseo.  Seftor  Torini  went  to 
the  San  Carlos  to  find  Mr.  Roggster,  but  no  such  person  had 
been  there,  and  then  he  came  aboard  the  yacht  for  an  ex- 
planation of  the  letter  heading.  His  daughter's  name,  he 
observed,  was  not  Serolena,  but  Serafina.  "  Confound  liis 
impudence,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  why,  he  copied  the  verses 
out  of  my  scrap-book  while  pretending  to  be  writing  a  letter 
'omc,  last  evening.  I  wrote  those  lines,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  a 
Cobb's  spelling-book,  or  Daboll's  arithmetic,  when  I  was  at 
Sanderson's  school."  I  knew  this  was  an  unfounded  claim 
of  the  gallant  champion,  for  I  had  seen  the  verses  in  a  news- 
paper myself;  and  anj'body  can  use  them,  for  every  girl  will 
recognize  her  own  portrait  in  the  lines,  were  she  as  ugly  as 
Maritornes,  as  dark  as  a  mulatto,  and  with  the  black  horse- 
hair of  a  Iroquois  squaw. 

The  Commodore  explained  how  the  pretender  had  come 
in  possession  of  the  yacht  note-paper,  and  after  a  time  ap- 
peased the  wrath  of  the  irate  father  ;  who  took  occasion  to 
say,  however,  that  Americans  must  be  \'ery  free  and  easy  in 
their  manners  if  they  could  take  in  a  stranger  in  that  way  ; 
26 


402  THE    CRUISE   OF  THE   MONTAUK. 

whereupon  Uncle  John  remarked  that  he  began  to  smell  a 
mystification,  and,  instead  of  taking  the  stranger  in,  he  had  a 
suspicion  that  the  stranger  had  taken  us  in.  The  bouquet  of 
the  already-renowned  new  brand  of  dry  champagne,  the 
"  Montauk,"  which  is  one  of  the  yacht  specialties,  mollified 
Senor  Jose  Patricio  to  such  a  degree  that  (first  eyeing  closely 
Uncle  John's  gray  whiskers  and  my  threadbare  pate)  he  in- 
vited us  to  call  at  his  house  and  be  presented  to  his  daughter. 
We  made  our  excuses,  pleading  a  prior  engagement,  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort.  In  Havana  they  keep  the  girls  cooped  up 
behind  grated  windows,  and,  as  Uncle  John  sagely  remarked, 
there  is  little  fun  in  that  on  either  side. 

We  saw  no  more  of  Mr.  Poynings  Roggster,  but  just  as 
we  were  about  to  set  sail  yesterday  a  boatman  came  out  and 
handed  the  Commodore  this  letter  : 

"Calle  Obispo  (Roggster  Evasit). 
"  My  Dear  Commodore  :  A  hundred  thousand  thanks 
for  your  bountiful  entertainment.  The  prog  and  lush  were 
prime,  and  the  cigars — -ah  !  yum — yum  !  I  am  about  to  start 
for  Santiago  de  Cuba  ;  but  one  kind  word  before  we  part ; 
my  boat  is  on  the  sea  and  I  am  on  the  shore,  and  here's  a 
health  to  thee,  my  gallant  Commodore,  ct  cetera.  Let  me 
advise  you  to  give  up  buffalo-hunting  in  Michigan,  nobody 
but  a  Sucker  after  Wolverines  would  go  there.  The  Mohawk 
River  buffaloes  are  all  calves,  across  between  a  Utica  second- 
growth  Irishman  and  a  bundling  Spraker's  Basin  Dutchman. 
If  Uncle  John  will  send  me  his  article  for  Dick  Fox,  on  shoot- 
ing Niagara  to  get  into  the  Legislature,  I  will  correct  the 
spelling  for  him.  He  is  apt  to  overshoot  the  mark  by  put- 
ting in  too  heavy  a  charge  of  letters.  I  agree  with  you  about 
John  Kelly.  I  have  known  him  well  for  many  years.  He's 
a  good  deal  of  a  man.     I  don't  know  that  he  was  born  great, 


MR.  rOVNIXGS    ROGGSTER.  403 

but  it  may  be  said  of  him  truthfully  that  in  early  life  he  has 
borne  grate.  He  isn't  a  rapparec  ;  he's  game  to  the  back- 
bone ;  lie's  a  grate-setter — an  Irish  setter.  Besides,  he  is  a 
self-taught  scholar  and  untaught  upright  man. 

"  Your  Montauk  champagne  is  superb.  I  can  taste  it  yet 
('  the  scent  of  the  roses  ;  '  vide  Moore).  If  it  has  a  fault,  it 
is  too  dry.  I  am  not  affected  by  the  popular  craze  for  extra- 
dry  wine,  which  will  have  its  run,  like  typhoid  fever  and  roller- 
skating.  All  in  good  time,  the  taste  will  come  back  to  the 
juste  milieu,  good  old  Veuve  Clicquot,  for  example,  though 
if  the  Widow  has  a  fault,  she  is  a  trifle  sweet.  All  widows 
are  sweet,  if  young  enough. 

'  Elderly  ladies  arc  apt  to  be  tough, 
But  when  they've  money  they're  tender  enough.' 

'*  One  of  you  may  put  this  in  the  letters  you  write  home 
as  original,  but  it  isn't.  There's  nothing  original,  except  the 
charge  that  fellows  are  paid  two  dollars  a  night  for  carrying 
torches  in  political  parades,  which  was  first  invented,  to  be- 
little the  show,  while  the  Israelites  were  having  a  procession 
through  the  Red  Sea. 

"  By  the  way,  the  redundant  learning  that  lay  around 
loose  in  your  saloon,  like  the  velvet  sofa-cushions,  cured  me  of 
dropping  my  h's.  I  can  say  humbug  now  as  well  as  George 
William  Curtis,  or  the  big  Injln  who  shoots  antelope  at  the 
Madison  Square  Garden  with  the  Elks  Ball.  There  Gertrude 
of  Wyoming  waltzes  with  0"Conor's  child.  Thank  the  Gen- 
eral for  boring  me  about  orthoepy.  If  he  should  start  a 
hobby-riding  school  to  correct  vicious  American  pronunci- 
ation (and  it  is  abominable)  he  may  put  me  down  for  one 
seat,  with  somebody  else  to  occupy  it,  and  pay  for  it.  too.  I 
left  an  old  dictionary  in  the  Irish  World  office,  which  he  can 


404  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

have  when  he  returns  to  New  York.  No  thanks  ;  I  can  a 
Ford  it.  It  is  one  of  Johnson's  and  would  suit  him,  as  there 
is  nothing  modern  in  the  volume.  I  don't  care  whether  you 
say  '  knewspaper  '  or  '  noospaper,'  so  long  as  the  Montilla 
holds  out  to  burn,  with  gentle  and  seductive  heart-swelling 
warmth.  That  Montilla,  like  the  Montauk,  is  incomparable. 
I  wish  you  would  send  some  of  it  to  the  blockheads  of  the 
Union  League  Club  ('  Greeley  ')  and  let  them  taste  good 
sherry  once.     Their  Amontillado — pooh — pooh  ! 

"  I  hear  that  old  Paddy'  Torini  cut  up  rough  because  I  sent 
his  pretty  daughter  some  verses  I  found  aboard  the  yacht. 
The  lines  are  good  enough,  to  the  namby-pamby  taste  of  the 
girls,  but  I  could  write  better  if  I  were  not  so  lazy.  To  copy 
them  I  used  the  yacht  paper  ;  it  is  the  swell  thing.  But  for 
an  unpardonable  piece  of  stupidity  in  the  daughter  of  Ethiop 
who  is  her  duefia,  I  would  have  had  a  shy  at  the  girl.  You 
know  I  am  a  shy  fellow  (fire  that  at  Uncle  John  ;  it  will  give 
him  an  idea  for  a  new  pun  ;  he's  running  dry).  Confound 
all  thick-skulled-niggers,  say  I.  Henceforth  I  am  in  favor  of 
slavery. 

"  Should  I  come  across  you  hereafter,  I  shall  be  glad  to  ac- 
knowledge personally  my  obligation  for  your  graceful  hospi- 
tality ;  which  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  accept  again. 

"With  kind  remembrance  of  the  cook  (not  in  a  pecuniary 
way)  who  contributed  so  materially  to  my  enjoyment,  I 
have  the  honor  to  extend  to  you  the  assurance  of  my  dis- 
tinguished consideration. 

CORNELIUS    O'FLAHERTY, 
Formerly  evict  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin  ;  more  recently  fortu- 
itous contributor  to,  and  irregular  stipendiary  of,  the  New 
York  evening  Press,  and  of  any  newspapers  that  paid. 

"  P.S. — I  stop  the  press  to  state  that  the  cards  of  Mr. 
Poynings  Roggster,  left  in  my  state-room,  need  not  be  pre- 


MR.  POYNINGS    ROGGSTER.  405 

served.  They  are  trumps  no  longer.  Roggstcr  /////, 
O'Flaherty  est.  I  can't  say  now  what  my  name  will  be  /// 
futuro.  It  may  be  Fippence  the  Tailor,  when  I  get  to  South 
America  where  they  wear  no  clothes,  or  William  M.  Evarts 
should  I  attend  a  palaver,  or  possibly  Spinola,  when  I  go 
down  to  my  countrymen  the  Patagonians,  who  are  said  to  be 
a  choleric  people. 

"  Ta-ta,  Sam  ! 

"  C.  O'F." 

I  don't  know  that  it  is  safe  for  me  to  relate  this  episode. 
The  Commodore  will  never  forgive  me,  but  the  truth  of  his- 
tory must  be  vindicated  at  all  hazards,  as  the  scurvy  ]\Iul- 
ligan  said  when  he  sneakthieved  Blaine's  letters.  Ice  is  cheap 
in  Havana,  only  twenty  dollars  a  ton  ;  though  we  were  ad- 
vised to  lay  in  a  full  stock  at  Curacoa,  where  it  costs  forty  dol- 
lars, in  order  to  escape  extortion.  It  is  artificial,  made  in 
fine,  large,  clear  blocks.  But  what  is  all  the  ice  in  Havana  to 
the  coolness  of  the  knight  errant  Cornelius  O'Flaherty,  alias — 
"  Mr.  Poynings  Roggster,  the  Larches,  Devon  Hill  !  ''  Good 
gracious  !  how  he  played  it  on  us. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

FLORIDA. 

Departure  from  Havana — Cuba  Pobre — Rotten  Currency — Fishing — 
Mourning  Pharos — St.  Augustine — Jacksonville — Palatka — A  Gentle 
Swear — A  Cow  Railroad — Minorcans — Fruitful  Florida. 

St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  April  26,  1884, 
We  sailed  from  Havana  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  stopping 
to  be  boarded  by  the  guard-boat  from  Morro  Castle  ;  and 
then  out  into  the  Gulf,  homeward  bound  !  As  you  may  ima- 
gine, we  were  not  in  good  humor.  There  was  Roggster  in 
the  air,  conducive  to  the  gloomy  view  we  took  of  Cuba  ; 
which  is  in  k  deplorable  condition.  Business  is  depressed  to 
an  alarming  extent.  Trade  doesn't  seem  to  be  flourishing  in 
any  part  of  the  world  just  now,  but  it  is  worse  in  Cuba  than 
in  any  other  country.  Prices  of  agricultural  products  are  low 
everywhere,  but  sugar,  which  is  the  staple  article  of  Cuban 
export,  is  cheaper  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  island. 
The  cost  of  production  is  about  four  and  a  half  cents  a 
pound,  the  price  received  by  the  planter  is  three  and  three- 
quarters,  with  a  prospect  of  still  further  reduction.  A  hogs- 
head of  sugar  is  worth  $24  less  than  it  was  last  year.  When 
we  multiply  the  number  of  hogsheads  by  this  figure  of  depre- 
ciation the  shrinkage  is  enormous  ;  enabling  us  to  appreciate 
the  commercial  suffering  which  exists.  When  I  was  here 
before,  I  visited  the  famous  Toledo  plantation  at  Mariana, 
one  of  the  largest  in  Cuba,  producing  then  250,000  boxes  of 


FLORIDA.  407 

sugar  ;  the  day  before  we  sailed,  I  learned  that  the  estate  was 
hopelessly  bankrupt.  But  Cuba  might  recover  from  this  un- 
prosperous  condition,  which  the  whole  world  feels  to  some 
extent  at  present,  were  it  not  for  the  excessive  taxation, 
which  drains  the  life-blood  of  the  island  to  support  the  army 
and  enrich  the  officials.  Corruption  is  universal,  and  public 
officers  hardly  take  the  trouble  to  hide  their  bribe-taking. 
Peculation  confronts  Cuba  boldly  ;  grinding  oppression  stares 
her  in  the  face,  and  bankruptcy  is  peering  over  her  shoulder. 
I  do  not  speak  to  disparage  the  commercial  integrity  of  the 
merchants  of  Havana,  but  none  but  the  very  strongest  houses 
of  approved  standing  have  much  credit  in  the  world.  Busi- 
ness men  desire  to  pay,  but  they  lack  the  ability. 

The  finances  are  wofully  disordered.  The  Bank  of  Bar- 
celona had  a  charge  on  the  customs  receipts  of  $33,000  a 
day,  which  has  been  increased  $1 5,000  by  a  new  loan,  recently 
placed,  making  $48,000  a  day  lien  on  the  imports.  With 
trade  falling  off  as  the  present  rate,  the  revenue  will  soon  be 
insufficient  to  meet  the  fixed  charges,  and  the  government 
will  be  bankrupt  as  well  as  the  people.  The  Municipality  of 
Havana  owes  the  Bank  $180,000  and  contractors  $60,000, 
which  it  is  unable  to  pay.  Indeed,  it  is  a  sort  of  bankrupt 
dance  all  hands  around. 

The  Spanish  Bank  has  a  nominal  capital  of  $8,000,000 
and  an  apparent  surplus  of  $109,465.77.  It  has  a  circulation 
of  paper,  according  to  the  last  report,  of  $41, 8^7, 464.75, 
while  the  specie  against  which  the  paper  is  issued  amounts  to 
but  $4,364,949.70.  But  the  universal  distrust  is  shown  by 
the  generally-accepted  opinion  among  the  people  that  these 
figures  represent  neither  the  actual  emission  of  paper  nor  the 
accumulation  of  gold.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  rumor  tliat 
the  circulation  of  paper  is  twice  as  large  as  represented,  and 
that  the  specie  is  not  in  the  bank  vaults.     Some  estimate  the 


408  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

paper  money  in  circulation  as  high  as  $100,000,000.  It  is 
publicly  charged  that  when  notes  come  back  to  the  Bank  they 
are  not  destroyed,  but  are  reissued,  together  with  the  new 
notes  intended  to  take  their  place,  so  that  there  is  in  fact  a 
repeated  double  issue.  There  is  no  confidence  in  anything. 
Gold  is  250 — a  dollar  in  gold  bringing  $2.50  in  paper.  This 
rag  currency  passes  because  it  is  for  the  interest  of  everybody 
to  keep  it  in  circulation  for  self-protection.  So  long  as  it  is 
accepted,  business  can  be  carried  on,  but  if  any  considerable 
number  of  persons  should  refuse,  the  most  calamitous  conse- 
quences would  ensue.  The  paper  wouldn't  be  worth  much 
more  than  Confederate  currency  during  our  war,  when  it  took 
a  bushel  of  paper  to  buy  a  peck  of  corn.  The  size  of  the 
bank-note  is  regulated  by  its  face  value  ;  the  smaller  notes 
are  of  the  ordinary  dimensions,  and  increase  in  size  with  the 
denomination,  a  fifty-dollar  bill  being  as  large  as  a  pocket 
handkerchief — not  as  voluminous  as  Senator  Thurman's  red 
oriflamme,  but  of  the  usual  size.  When  the  crash  comes,  a 
man  with  a  big  note  will  not  lose  as  much  as  the  small  holder. 
He  will  have  more  paper  on  hand  to  light  the  fire  with. 

There  can  be  no  improvement  under  Spanish  rule,  and  no 
change  in  the  administration  of  affairs  by  Spain  can  be  hoped 
for.  The  country  is  ripe  for  insurrection,  and  Free  Cuba 
may  be  within  the  range  of  possibilities.  But  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  only  hope  for  unhappy  Cuba  is  in  annexation  to  the 
United  States.  The  island  is  mortgaged  for  all  it  is  worth, 
and  Spain  might  be  willing  to  sell  for  the  mortgage.  The 
United  States  had  better  buy.  There  is  a  large  surplus  in 
the  treasury,  which  is  likely  to  remain  there,  unless  it  should 
be  resolved  to  repair  a  war  vessel,  which  would  not  only  ex- 
haust all  the  funds,  but  would  necessitate  the  placing  of  a  new 
loan.  Emulating  the  patriotic  example  of  the  generous  Jew- 
ish bankers  of  Amsterdam,  who  bought  our  bonds  at  forty 


FLORIDA.  409 

cents  on  the  dollar  and  sold  thcni  above  par,  I  will  contribute 
something  if  the  country  is  hard  up.  I  will  revoke  my  gift 
to  the  poor,  and  donate  to  the  Government,  to  be  used  in 
the  acquisition  of  Cuba,  the  proceeds  of  lottery  ticket  No. 
17,361. 

The  Gulf  of  Florida  was  entered  on  the  22d,  and  we  had 
smooth  seas,  similar  to  the  gentle  waves  of  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  but  no  constant  trade-winds,  to  blow  with  unvarying 
moderation.  Here  we  began  to  look  out  for  squalls.  The 
boats  that  had  hung  from  the  davits  all  the  way  from  Trinidad 
were  taken  on  deck  and  securely  lashed.  The  clouds  were 
different  from  the  fluffy  round  balls  of  the  trade- wind  regions 
and  gave  promise  of  the  fitful  cold  breath  that  comes  out  of 
the  north.  We  passed  the  light-house  on  Alligator  Reefs,  and 
soon  were  running  along  the  Florida  coast  in  view  of.  the 
Everglades.  We  had  fine  success  fishing  oft*  Cape  Carnaval, 
catching  plenty  of  Spanish  mackerel,  larger  than  any  I  had 
ever  seen  in  northern  waters,  bonitos,  mullet  and  red-snap- 
pers, with  the  inevitable  devil-fish  to  intrude  unwelcome 
presence.  Unfortunately  Lent  was  over  and  we  could  claim 
no  merit  for  joining  the  tribe  of  Piscivori  and  eating  fish  at 
every  meal.  It  was  quite  exciting  when  all  hands  were  on 
deck  with  lines  out.  The  white  planks  were  slippery  with 
blood,  as  if  we  had  been  engaged  repelling  boarders  from 
some  ruthless  pirate  of  the  Gulf.  The  sailing-master  mani- 
fested much  concern  about  the  blood-stains  until  Uncle  John 
assured  him  that  a  sprinkle  of  detergent  would  take  out  any 
spot,  however  deep.  He  said  that  if  Macbeth  had  had  a  little 
detergent  with  him  he  wouldn't  have  been  compelled  to  rave 
profanely  about  a  little  spot.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  a  man  with 
a  package  of  that  wonderful  erasive  in  his  pocket  went  into 
Chris.  O'Connor's  rooms  one  evening,  and  before  he  left  he 
couldn't  sec  a  spot  on  the  billiard-table."     I  am  afraid  Uncle 


4IO  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

John  has  lost  his  head  by  success  as  a  punster.  He  has 
become  an  inventor.  We  may  hear  of  him  next  summer  em- 
ployed by  a  National  Committee  to  get  up  facts  for  election 
purposes.  No,  he'll  never  get  down  to  that.  But  he  may 
try  his  hand  at  revising  the  Lives  of  the  Saints,  or  Fox's 
Book  of  Martyrs. 

We  saw  several  whales  or  black-fish  such  as  congregate  in 
the  vicinity  of  Cape  Cod.  No  effort  was  made  to  strike  the 
big  fish  ;  the  harpoons  aboard  were  not  large  enough.  Uncle 
John  said  he  had  a  plan  to  capture  one  if  he  wanted  to.  He 
would  throw  the  queen  of  hearts  overboard  and,  when  the 
black-fish  swallowed  the  pasteboard,  he  would  play  and  take 
it  with  the  king.  "That's  the  kind  of  harpoon  I  am,"  said 
he.  We  fled  in  dismay.  The  jcii  de  mot  is  becoming  a 
monomania.  One  of  the  queer  fish  caught  was  the  sucker, 
which  adheres  so  tenaciously  to  an  object  with  the  back  of 
its  head  that  it  is  difficult  to  pull  it  off.  Uncle  John  said  it 
reminded  him  of  my  head  on  a  pillow  in  the  morning.  I 
asked  him  indignantly  if  he  intended  to  class  me  as  a  sucker, 
and  he  answered,  somewhat  dubiously,  n-no.  I'll  get  even 
with  that  reckless  old  joker.  Wait  till  I  meet  him  at  the 
Yacht  Club,  on  Madison  Avenue,  when  I  will  get  comrade 
Lawrence  to  join  me  and  we'll  pepper  him  mercilessly  with 
quotations  from  Horace.  Thus  will  we  cover  him  with  con- 
fusion. A  turtle  floated  by  with  broad  back  bespread  with 
barnacles.  A  quartermaster  struck  at  it  with  a  harpoon,  but 
the  point  glanced  off  and  it  dove  beneath  the  water  with  the 
barnacles  clinging,  like  clerks  in  the  departments  at  Washing- 
ton. Uncle  John  whispered,  "  Nice  bird  ;  turtle  dove."  How 
we  long  to  be  back  in  New  York  to  escape  the  epidemic  of 
puns  !  An  ugly-looking  shark  played  around  but  didn't  come 
within  harpooning  distance,  and  refused  to  be  tempted  with 
a  luscious  bait  of  delicious  fat  pork.     It  may  have  been  a  Jew 


FLORIDA.  41  r 

shark.  A  little  tired  bird  flew  on  deck,  one  of  the  sandpiper 
family,  so  exhausted  by  a  long  flight  that  it  ran  around  the 
deck  and  railing,  feebly  fluttering  from  point  to  point.  Wil- 
helm,  our  Dutch  blackamoor  boy,  shipped  at  Curacoa,  made 
several  ineffectual  attempts  to  capture  it,  until  at  length  one 
of  the  sailors  told  him  to  put  some  salt  on  its  tail.  He  pro- 
cured the  salt  and  then  crept  around  cautiously  to  apply  it. 
We  had  a  great  laugh  at  his  expense,  until  he  turned  the  tables 
on  us  by  appearing  triumphantly  with  bird  in  the  hand. 
Nothing  is  impossible  to  industry  and  perseverance.  A  silk 
purse  has  been  made  out  of  a  sow's  ear.  Yet  there  may  be 
impossibilities — to  beat  Uncle  John  at  dominos,  for  example, 
or  make  a  country  minister  talk  common  sense.  Fatigue  had 
more  to  do  with  catching  the  sandpiper  than  salt.  I  com- 
pared the  capture  of  that  bird  to  the  collapse  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy. 

We  had  thunderstorms  on  every  quarter  during  the  night 
but  ran  into  none  of  them.  It  is  strange  that  during  all  our 
absence  we  have  never  encountered  a  thunder  storm.  It  is 
not  the  season  of  storms,  but  with  all  the  hot  weather  experi- 
enced in  the  low  latitudes  we  might  have  reasonably  expected 
some  electrical  effects.  Good  fortune  has  attended  us  through- 
out.    Lucky  Montauk  ! 

It  was  cold  in  the  night,  from  the  northerly  wind,  but  the 
morning  broke  bright  and  fair  with  a  coolish  breeze,  as  we 
lay  off"  the  harbor  of  St.  Augustine.  A  pilot  came  aboard, 
and  as  the  wind  was  unfavorable  we  took  a  tow  from  the  tug- 
boat Seth  Low,  which  was  employed  in  unloading  a  schooner 
with  a  cargo  of  ice,  which  had  gone  ashore.  When  the 
Commodore  came  to  pay  the  pilotage,  he  surmised  that  the 
schooner  went  on  the  beach  as  a  matter  of  economy,  as  it 
was  cheaper  to  be  wrecked  than  pay  a  pilot  the  regular 
rate.     On  the  other  hand,  the  hire  of  a  tow-boat  would  be 


412  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

nearly  as  bad.      It  would  be  a  sort  of   financial  Scylla  and 
Charybdis. 

The  light-house,  at  the  entrance  to  the  narrow  channel 
over  the  bar  leading  to  the  harbor,  is  painted  with  alternate 
broad  stripes  of  white  and  black,  resembling  a  large  column 
draped  in  mourning.  I  said  that  it  was  in  mourning  for  the 
fraud  by  which  Tilden  was  cheated  out  of  the  vote  of  Florida 
in  1876.  This  provoked  a  political  discussion,  which  was 
tolerated,  now  that  we  had  returned  to  the  United  States, 
where  talking  politics  is  one  of  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  the 
people,  though  it  was  subjected  to  an  inexorable  interdict  in 
the  heated  tropics.  The  Commodore  joined  issue  with  me 
and  fell  back  on  the  Electoral  Commission,  which  had  settled 
a  vexed  question  and  averted  threatened  public  disturbance 
growing  out  of  a  disputed  succession.  I  said  that  that  was  a 
case  of  biter  bit,  the  projectors  of  the  Commission  thought 
it  would  result  in  giving  Tilden  the  Presidency.  The  other 
side  captured  it  and  then  the  inventors  grumbled  about  being 
cheated.  I  am  not  one  of  those,  however,  who  run  around 
sniveling  about  fraud.  If  the  advice  that  a  few  of  us  gave 
had  been  taken,  there  would  have  been  no  necessity  for  whin- 
ing. I  was  one  of  the  Presidential  Electors  from  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  the  day  after  election  I  tried  to  strengthen 
Mr.  Tilden's  backbone  and  bring  him  up  to  the  scratch.  All 
that  he  required  was  a  stiff  upper  lip.  That  is  where  he  is 
deficient.  He  has  plenty  of  brains  but  is  shaky  in  the  lip. 
In  answer  to  my  suggestion  that  it  was  necessary  to  put  on  a 
bold  front,  Tilden  spat  a  mysterious  mumble  in  my  ear,  and 
then  sent  the  robust  Ottendorfer  down  to  overawe  the 
bulldozers  of  Louisiana,  and  Smith  Weed  to  outwit  the  astute 
carpet-baggers,  spawn  of  knavish  Reconstruction.  No,  I 
don't  whine.  If  I  detect  a  man  putting  his  hand  in  my 
pocket  I  knock  him  down,  and  if  I  fail  to  do  so,  I  won't  offer 


LlGllT-liOLSE,    SI.    AUGUSTINE. 


FLORIDA.  413 

as  an  excuse  that  there  is  a  law  against  assault  and  battery. 
Tilden  was  elected,  and  if  he  had  stood  up  boldly  the  other 
side  would  have  backed  down.  He  held  a  good  hand  and 
the  Hayes  party  bluffed  him  off  with  a  bobtail.  They  raised 
him  out  on  the  blind. 

This  is  not  the  biased  view  of  a  partisan.  The  thing  is 
over  now  and  must  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  history.  The 
Democrats  were  cheated,  and  deserved  to  be  for  their  timid- 
ity. The  Republicans  had  the  audacity  to  perpetrate  a 
wrong,  the  Democrats  lacked  the  courage  to  maintain  a  right. 
It  is  well  to  remember  these  things.  The  trouble  is  that  we 
only  denounce  fraud  when  it  is  against  us.  We  can  swallow 
any  amount  of  cheating  in  politics  on  our  own  side,  but  we 
are  very  squeamish  when  it  comes  to  the  rascalities  of 
others. 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Uncle  John,  "  unscrupulous  parti- 
sanship is  the  reproach  of  our  country.  The  accepted  motto 
seems  to  be  that  the  end  justifies  the  means." 

"  Let  the  light-house  remain  in  mourning,  then,"  said  I, 
"  as  a  monument  of  disregard  of  justice  and  fair-play  in  poli- 
tics. Yet  I  suppose  when  the  Democrats  get  in  they'll  want 
to  *  paint  her  red.'  " 

No  doubt  I  am  a  bit  of  a  scold.  I  have  a  way  of  talking 
out  in  meeting,  even  when  the  meeting  is  against  me.  h>very- 
thing  ought  to  be  discussed  freely  and  fairh'.  Sparks  of 
truth  fly  from  the  collision  of  antagonistic  opinions.  The 
truth-teller  is  apt  to  be  set  down  as  an  odditv'  by  one  side  or 
the  other.  The  mob  is  unable  to  discriminate  between  the 
bigot  and  the  thinker  who  has  the  courage  to  avow  his  be- 
lief. The  mob  called  Wendell  Phillips  a  crank.  The  mob  is 
an  unreasoning  animal.  The  populace  of  London  mobbed 
John  of  Gaunt  for  upholding  Wxxliffe,  when  arraigned  for 
heresy  in  attacking  the  temporalities  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ; 


414  I'HE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

the  populace  of  London  destroyed  life  and  property  in  the 
No-Popery  riots  of  Lord  George  Gordon.  It  was  of  the  same 
popular  composition  ;  in  one  case,  the  whim  was  for  the 
Pope,  in  the  other,  it  was  against  him.  Abolitionists  were 
mobbed  in  our  country  for  opposing  slavery,  by  the  same 
multitude  that  afterward  mobbed  copperheads  for  favoring 
it.  The  mob  is  an  unreasoning  mass  of  vindictiveness, 
thoughtlessness,  and  clamor.  In  our  own  land  it  is  often 
composed  of  highly-respectable  citizens  who  read  the  news- 
papers. 

'  There  v/as  a  dress  parade  of  pelicans  on  the  beach  as  we 
were  towed  in,  possibly  a  little  reception  organized  on  account 
of  the  Montauk,  but  we  didn't  go  ashore  to  ascertain.  We 
had  a  mission  in  visiting  Florida.  Before  sailing  from  New 
York,  the  President  of  the  Jacksonville  and  St.  Augustine 
railroad  gave  me  an  annual  pass  over  his  road.  It  was  to  use 
this  that  we  put  into  St.  Augustine,  and  submitted  to  extor- 
tionate pilotage.  I  wasn't  going  to  miss  a  chance  to  use  a 
pass  and  get  the  best  of  a  bloated  corporate  monopoly.  It 
was  an  expensive  free  ride — that  is  to  the  Commodore,  but  I 
could  stand  that.  We  submit  very  gracefully  to  the  extrava- 
gance of  others  for  our  benefit.  A  trip  to  Jacksonville  gave 
us  a  delightful  evening  at  the  Club,  with  my  old  army  friend 
Major  J.  H.  Durkee,  U.  S.  Marshal,  whose  level  head  equal- 
izes a  little  lopsidedness  in  the  matter  of  shoulders,  caused  by 
losing  an  arm  at  Chancellorsville.  The  next  day  we  went  up 
to  Palatka,  a  thriving  village,  with  two  railroads  leading  to  it, 
the  central  point  of  upper  and  lower  river  navigation.  Some 
of  the  most  extensive  orange  groves  in  Florida  are  near  here, 
one  of  the  finest  being  owned  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Brown,  of  Utica, 
in  conjunction  with  his  brother.  The  shade  trees  in  Palatka 
are  of  bitter  orange,  interspersed  with  date  palms.  It  pre- 
sents the  features   of  rapid   growth,  the   old   and   new  being 


FLORIDA.  415 

jumbled  together,  as  happens  where  progress  is  rapid.  Stroll- 
ing around  the  town,  we  dropped  into  an  extensive  billiard- 
room  and  were  pleased  to  see  a  scripture  lesson  on  the  wall, 
which  ought  to  be  displayed  in  other  places  as  a  reminder  of 
the  sin  of  profanity.  It  was  in  the  Chesterficldian  vein,  min- 
gling a  lesson  of  politeness  with  the  inculcation  of  a  prohilji- 
tion  contained  in  the  decalogue.  The  text,  hung  up  in  a 
frame  like  the  legend  "  God  bless  our  home,"  read  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Etiquette  of  Mr.  Cunneely's  billiard-parlor. 

"  Swearing  over  the  billiard-table  is  as  ungentlemanly  as 
in  the  box  at  the  opera  or  lady's  parlor.  Although  a  gentle 
swear  may  sometimes  ease  the  troubled  mind  of  a  nervous 
player  " — etc.,  etc.,  closing  with  a  deprecation  of  profanity  and 
obscenity  as  regular  "  Parts  of  Speech."  The  gentle  swear 
is  a  most  convenient  easement  to  the  conscience. 

Returning  from  Palatka,  we  crossed  the  St.  John's  River 
at  West  Tocoi  to  take  the  railroad  to  St.  Augustine.  Here 
we  heard  the  mocking-bird  singing  in  the  tree.  What  a 
favored  land  !  with  mocking-birds  singing  wild  in  the  forests, 
and  oranges  so  plenty  that  they  lie  rotting  on  the  ground. 
It  recalled  the  admission  of  the  famous  auctioneer  Robins, 
that  there  were  some  drawbacks  to  the  property  he  was  cant- 
ing ;  he  had  to  own  up  to  the  noise  of  the  nightingales  and 
the  litter  of  rose-bushes.  The  railroad  to  St.  iVugustine  is  a 
rickety  affair  ;  evidently  built  for  the  purpose  of  affording 
employment  to  brakemen  to  drive  cows  off  the  track.  It 
doesn't  compare  with  the  road  on  which  I  had  a  pass.  The 
country  is  not  thickly  settled  along  the  line  of  this  superior 
road,  although  there  is  a  place  of  nominal  prominence,  about 
half-way  to  Jacksonville.  It  is  called  Greenville,  and  consists 
at  the  present  writing  of  a  piece  of  pine  board  nailed  to  a 
palmetto  tree.     Greenville  has  a  future. 


4l6  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MOXTAUK. 

The  soil  all  through  this  part  of  Florida  is  poor,  fine  white 
sand  covered  with  scrub  palmetto.  This  vegetation  is  of  no 
value,  although  I  learn  that  some  process  has  been  invented 
by  which  it  may  be  converted  into  a  tough  and  useful  fabric. 
The  St.  John's  is  a  noble  river,  majestic  in  appearance  but 
shallow,  like  some  United  States  Senators.  At  this  point  it 
is  three  miles  wide  ;  the  water  is  dark-colored  from  the  drain- 
age of  swamps  which  it  intersects.  The  ferry-boat  Louise 
conveyed  us  across  in  a  highly  becoming  and  deliberate 
manner.  The  vessel  is  not  magnificent  in  proportion,  but  was 
able  to  accommodate  the  passengers  quite  comfortably.  There 
were  as  many  as  five,  all  told.  I  do  not  feel  it  my  duty  to 
speak  commendingly  of  the  St.  John's  railroad.  I  had  no 
pass  over  it.  If  I  had  been  taken  for  a  clergyman,  I  might 
have  been  offered  a  ticket  for  half  fare,  but,  strange  to  say, 
nobody  ever  takes  me  for  a  minister. 

Jacksonville  is  a  well-built,  thriving  city,  giving  every  in- 
dication of  business  prosperity.  The  city  proper  is  bounded 
by  creeks,  named  respectively  McCoy  and  Hogan,  after  two 
Spanish  adventurers  who  came  over  with  Ponce  de  Leon. 
The  Fountain  of  Youth  he  sought  is  supposed  to  be  the 
sulphur  spring  in  St.  Augustine.  Some  of  Leon's  party 
must  have  been  buried  under  it.     They  were  eaters  of  garlic. 

The  weather  is  remarkably  cool  in  St.  Augustine.  Fires 
were  burning  in  the  reading-rooms  of  the  hotels.  It  is  a 
sleepy  old  place,  dull  and  inanimate.  Nobody  speaks  above 
his  breath  except  the  negro,  and  he  has  a  brake  on  his 
tongue  ;  he  speaks  broken  English.  The  Cathedral  is  a  ven- 
erable pile,  of  semi-Moorish  architecture,  erected  during  the 
last  century.  It  contains  a  large  painting  representing  the 
first  Mass  celebrated  at  the  landing  of  the  Spaniards  under 
j^edro  Menendez.  It  explains  that  "  with  religion  came  to 
our  shores  civilization,  arts,  sciences,  and  industry."     I  don't 


FLORIDA.  417 

think  the  intelligent  members  of  the  Free  Church  of  Squash 
Hollow  will  believe  that  of  familiars  of  the  Inquisition  and 
Mariolators. 

The  public  square  or  Plaza  is  a  pretty  little  park,  with  a 
fountain,  and  a  monument  erected  to  commemorate  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  liberal  constitution  by  Spain,  October  17, 
1 812.  The  inscription  in  Spanish  reads  that  it  was  erected 
in  eternal  remembrance  of  that  event,  the  Governor  then 
being  Brigadier  Don  Sebastian  Kindalem,  Knight  of  the 
Order  of  San  Diego.  This  enclosure  is  called  Plaza  de  la 
Constitucion.  At  one  end  stands  a  small  stone  building  for- 
merly used  as  a  slave  market.  In  appropriate  proximity 
(bane  and  antidote,  for  the  men  for  whom  it  was  erected  were 
part  of  the  rash  and  misguided  army  whose  hands,  lifted 
against  the  sacred  temple  of  the  Union,  only  succeeded  in 
pulling  down  the  disfiguring  entablature  of  Slavery)  is  a 
monument,  erected  in  1880  by  the  Ladies'  ]\Iemorial  Associa- 
tion of  St.  Augustine,  Florida.     It  is  inscribed  : 

In  Memoriam. 

"  Our  loved  ones,  who  gave  their  lives  in  the  service  of  the 
Confederate  States,  They  died  far  from  the  home  that  gave 
them  birth,  by  comrades  honored,  and  by  comrades  mourned. 
They  have  crossed  the  river  and  rest  under  the  shade  of  the 
trees."  The  names  of  the  dead  are  on  the  sides.  There  is 
no  monument  to  the  Union  soldiers.  I  presume  there  were 
no  Union  soldiers  from  Florida — until  after  the  war. 

Magnolia  and  orange  trees  abound.  The  streets  are  nar- 
row, and  the  original  Spanish  buildings,  with  overhanging 
balconies,  of  quaint  construction.  A  picturesque  ruin  is  the 
old  city  gate,  the  flanking  square  columns  of  which  remain 
standing,  with  a  small  portion  of  crumbling  wall  adjoining. 
It  is  doubtful  if  St.  Augustine  was  ever  a  walled  town,  as  there 
27 


4l8  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

are  no  continuous  vestiges  of  ruins.  Fort  Marion  (Spanish 
name  San  Marco)  is  a  fine  work,  constructed  according  to  the 
most  approved  rules  of  defensive  fortification,  commenced 
over  two  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  the  oldest  fort  in  the 
United  States  ;  built  of  coquina,  a  solidified  mass  of  small 
shells,  of  which  a  great  quantity  is  mined  near  the  sea-shore. 
This  material  is  superior  to  ordinary  masonry  as  a  resistant 
to  shot  and  shell,  which  will  bury  in  the  coquina  instead  of 
rending  and  splitting  as  in  stone.  There  is  no  garrison  kept 
in  the  fort,  only  a  guard.  The  troops  (four  batteries  of  the 
Third  Artillery)  are  quartered  in  handsome  barracks  on  the 
shore  of  the  harbor. 

The  favorite  promenade,  extending  from  the  fort  to  the  bar- 
racks, is  the  sea-wall,  built  originally  by  the  Spaniards  and 
rebuilt,  at  large  expense,  fifty  years  ago. 

A  considerable  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of  St. 
Augustine  are  the  descendants  of  immigrants  from  the  island 
of  Minorca,  who  came  hither  over  a  century  ago.  Many  of 
them  still  speak  the  language  of  their  ancestors,  although  they 
are  gradually  becoming  merged  as  a  contingent  of  the  varied 
population.  To  some  extent,  however,  they  are  distinctive 
in  appearance  and  manners,  industrious  and  frugal,  their 
conduct  characterized  by  purity  of  life  and  honest  simplicity 
of  character. 

I  had  heard  unfavorable  accounts  of  Florida  ;  as  a  vast 
hospital  ;  a  place  where  invalids  went  to  die  ;  where  accom- 
modations were  wretched,  and  a  general  system  of  imposition 
practiced  on  travelers.  We  arrived  after  the  winter  tourists 
had  left,  and  there  were  but  few  strangers  remaining ;  but  I 
am  satisfied,  from  observation,  that  these  stories  (like  the  mos- 
quitoes and  malaria  in  the  next  village,  but  none  in  ours)  are 
unfounded.  Florida  is  a  fine  State,  with  a  healthful  climate, 
and  will  in  time  take  an  important  position,  under  the  impetus 


FLORIDA.  419 

of  northern  capital  which  is  flowing  in  and  readily  finds  safe 
and  remunerative  employment.  The  hotel  accommodations 
are  unexceptionable.  There  are  no  hotels  in  northern  cities  of 
the  same  size  that  excel  those  of  St.  Augustine,  Jacksonville, 
and  Palatka.  Florida  oranges  are  the  best  in  the  world,  and 
the  railroad  facilities  are  bringing  into  market  strawberries, 
small  fruits  and  vegetables,  to  the  culture  of  which  the  soil  is 
exceedingly  favorable.  If  I  could  forgive  Major  Durkee  for 
unheeding  General  Barlow  in  1876, 1  would  extend  to  Florida 
the  assurance  of  my  profound  consideration. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

HOME  AGAIN. 

A  Red-letter  Day — Song  of  the  Legion — Homeward  Bound — The  May- 
pole  —  Drunkenness — Temperance  z'i'.  Teetotalism — The  Bible — 
False  Prophets  —  Mohammedanism  —  The  Bishop's  Temperance 
Sermon — Puns — Erasmus  in  Praise  of  Folly — The  Montauk  Song — 
Finis. 

New  York,  May  4,  1884. 

Sunday,  April  27th,  is  a  day  marked  with  a  highly-illumi- 
nated letter  in  our  tablets.  Early  in  the  morning  we  were 
agreeably  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  Major  Durkee,  Cap- 
tain Buckman,  and  Messrs.  Jones  and  Driggs,  who  had  come 
all  the  way  from  Jacksonville  to  pay  us  a  friendly  visit  and 
participate  in  our  devotional  exercises.  The  hours  sped  by 
delightfully,  and  there  was  a  larcenous  lengthening  of  the 
day,  according  to  the  festive  method  recommended  by  Moore 
in  the  "  Young  May  Moon."  After  breakfast  we  sat  on  deck 
and  watched  the  guard-mounting,  and  Sunday  morning  inspec- 
tion, on  the  Barrack  parade-ground.  The  band  played  ap- 
propriate music  with  much  effect,  the  Prayer  from  Moses 
being  notably  well  rendered.  In  the  afternoon  we  attended 
the  dress  parade  of  the  garrison,  and  I  was  pleased  to  find 
in  conmiand  my  old  comrade  General  H.  G.  Gibson,  wearing 
the  shining  eagles  of  the  Colonel,  which  he  has  earned  by  long 
and  faithful  service  in  the  Regular  Army.  Among  the  spec- 
tators was  the   Postmaster  General.     I  wondered    what  he 


HOME   AGAIN.  42  I 

could  be  doing  down  here  after  the  "  season."  Looking  af- 
ter the  mails,  I  suppose.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  his  visit 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  Republican  National  Convention 
next  month  ;  yet  I  am  prepared  for  anything  in  politics,  and 
wouldn't  be  astonished  to  find  the  delegation  from  Florida 
(chosen  the  next  day)  turn  up  for  Arthur  at  Chicago.  Such 
strange  things  happen  politically. 

It  goes  without  saying  (that  is  a  brand-new  phrase,  w'hich 
you  never  see  running  the  rounds  of  the  imitative  newspa- 
pers, like  "our  parish"  and  such  threadbare  originalities) 
that  the  dinner  was  good.  It  was  my  birthday,  and  I  was 
pleasantly  remembered  by  the  debonair  Commodore  in  a 
felicitous  speech,  which  I  shall  not  report,  as  it  was,  like  the 
chronic  condition  of  my  bank  account,  somewhat  overdrawn. 
It  was  received  with  all  the  honors  nevertheless,  heartily  and 
enthusiastically.  Uncle  John  wanted  to  respond  for  me,  but 
I  forbade  him.  I  knew  he  would  be  jocose,  and  I  dislike 
levity  on  this  subject.  The  birthday  business  is  becoming 
serious.  The  family  is  growing  too  large.  I  think  when 
one  gets  along  in  years,  eighty,  ninety  or  so,  he  ought  to 
have  leave  of  absence  from  birthdays  for  a  decade,  and 
then  start  over  again  where  he  left  off.  Gray  hairs  are 
venerable,  but  who  wants  to  be  venerable  !  Still,  where 
the  church  windows  aren't  tight,  gray  hairs  are  better  than 
no  hair. 

The  evening  was  an  edifying  season  of  thanksgiving, 
from  which  we  derived  great  personal  comfort  and  satis- 
faction. 

Tattoo,  played  in  harmonized  parts  by  the  garrison  bugles, 
flew  sweetly  over  the  mellowing  water  ;  a  vesper  hymn  whose 
familiar  strains  brought  back  to  Major  Durkee  recollections 
of  camp-fires  in  the  old  Fifth  Corps,  with  intermingled  pleas- 
ant and  painful  experiences  of  the  soldier's  life.     I  thought  of 


422  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE    MONTAUK. 

Averell's  cavalry  bugles  at  Harrison's  Landing,  of  the  tattoo 
which  the  "  four  Colonels,"  Woodbury,  Cass,  Black,  and 
Skillin,  listened  to  the  week  before  on  the  Chickahominy,  but 
heard  not,  with  closed  ears,  on  the  banks  of  the  James,  and 
will  hear  no  more  forever.  We  cannot  but  think  of  the  gal- 
lant soldiers  whose  light  went  out  in  the  Seven  Days — the 
romantic  period  of  the  war  for  the  Union  ; — of  heroic  endur- 
ance by  an  army  unconquered  in  retreat,  marching  with  back 
to  the  foe  at  night,  but  facing  about  and  fighting  with  indomi- 
table front  by  daylight.  We  ponder  on  the  selfishness,  the 
mean  intriguing  for  place  and  patronage,  which  thwarted  the 
wise  plans  of  McClellan,  and  prevented  the  success  that 
would  have  crowned  his  capable  generalship  but  for  malign 
intervention  of  the  aptly-described  "  knaves,  hypocrites,  and 
pretenders."  Thoughts  of  the  wrong  and  injustice  they  did 
must  haunt  the  guilty  minds  of  those  who  prostituted  patriot- 
ism to  partisanship  and  pelf;  and  Nemesis  will  surround  their 
dying  pillows  with  crimsoned  visions  of  loyal  blood  shed  un- 
necessarily through  their  machinations.  As  Major  Durkee 
and  I  belong  to  the  New  York  Commandery,  we  thought  it 
an  appropriate  time  to  sing  the  song  of  the  Legion,  which 
we  trolled  forth  lustily,  disregarding  the  warning  "taps" 
sounded  from  the  guard-house.  But  we  are  beyond  the 
reach  now  of  the  order,  "  lights  out !  " 

The  arrangement,  as  a  duet,  which  we  sang  is  by  the  ac- 
complished musician,  Dr.  Joseph  Sieboth,  of  Utica.  It  is 
different  from  the  common  version,  "  My  Maryland,"  for  the 
Doctor  has  restored  the  original  German  music.  I  am  also 
indebted  to  my  friend  for  the  arrangement  of  the  Loyal 
Legionier,  sent  in  a  previous  letter. 

(From  Miisikalischer  Hajisscliatz  dcr  Deutschcn.) 
(For  greater  effect  the  accompaniment  may  be  played  an 
octave  lower  than  it  is  written.) 


HOMI-:   AGAIN. 


423 


SONG   OF   THE   LEGION. 

DEDICATED    TO    THE    MILITARY    ORDER    <)E    THE    LOYAL    LEGION 
OF    THE    UNITED    STATES, 

Air — Lauriger  Horatius. 


-^ -^*— 3 ^— -—•——• m ^— F-x — — • *- -^-X-m i       ^- 

rave  com-pan- ions,    tried  and  true,  No  -  ble      Loy  -  al        Lc  -  p:ii  11 ;  1 

/et-er-ans      who    wore  the  blue,         No  -  ble      Loy  -  al       Le   -   gion  ;  f 


[==£^^^i=E^^:E-£^= 


J-^-fT'-f .— J. WF^-m--m  — *— — ^-^—*m 5 ■'^^-^  - ;|r— 

j*:__» ^ , : J_ 


» < Y- 1 « 1 ha—' 


Men  who  drew    the     na-tion's  sword,  Saved  the    flag     from    be  -  ini;  lowered  ; 

'  """■? 1 >-       ^ 


mf 


424  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

^- — . . — , ^-^ .-^ «. ^^- 


=^^^^i^^^z^ls=^=3=E^E^=i^ 


Ral  -  ly  round  this       jo  -  vial  board,       No  -  ble    Loy  -  al        Le  -  gion. 


=^^=^EEE§E^E5^E^ 


Quick  their  country's  call  to  heed, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
Faithful  in  the  hour  of  need, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
Glorious  deeds  of  patriot  band, 
Fighting  for  fair  Freedom's  land, 
Bright  on  history's  page  shall  stand. 
Noble  Loyal  Legion. 

Laureled  banners  on  the  wall, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
Tender  memories  recall, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
Joys  with  sadness  interwine. 
Hearts  through  humid  eyes  outshine, 
Tears  perfume  the  merry  wine. 

Noble  Loyal  Legion. 

Year  by  year  the  ranks  get  thin, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
Few  recruits  are  taken  in, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
There's  no  place  for  traitor  knave. 
Sordid  churl  nor  dastard  slave — 
Vainly  such  admission  crave. 

Noble  Loyal  Legion. 


HOME   AGAIN.  425 

While  of  this  heroic  host, 

Xoble  Loyal  Lcyion, 
One  is  left  to  drink  a  toast, 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
He'll  remember  days  of  yore. 
Loved  companions  gone  before, 
Mustered  on  the  shining  shore. 

Noble  Loyal  Legion. 

Fill  your  goblets  to  the  brim. 

Noble  Loyal  Legion, 
Join  in  the  Commandery  hymn, 

Noljle  Loyal  Legion  ; 
May  the  last  Companion  here 
When  he  sees  grim  death  draw  near, 
Meet  him  with  bold  Legion  cheer  ! 

Nol)Ie  Loyal  Legion. 

Captain  Buckman,  who  served  as  an  engineer  officer  in 
the  Confederate  Army,  and  planted  some  innocent  shell-fish 
in  Jacksonville  harbor  during  the  war,  sang  Benny  Havens 
over  and  over  again.  It  brought  tears  to  his  eyes  at  the 
thought  of  the  old  days,  for  he  is  a  warm-hearted  enthusiast 
and  betrays  the  impulsiveness  of  his  ardent  Celtic  natin-e  when 
moved.  It  is  refreshing  to  come  across  an  enthusiast,  in 
these  cold,  cynical,  ;///  admirari  times,  when  only  vitupera- 
tion excites  warmth.  Small  praise,  but  abundant  blame, 
seems  to  be  the  fashion.  Air.  Jones  is  the  editor  of  the 
Times-Union,  a  Democratic  organ,  and  Mr.  Driggs  is  ;i 
member  of  the  Republican  Committee,  so  that  we  were  equal 
politically,  with  an  odd  number  in  the  assemblage.  The  bal- 
ance of  power  was  held  by  Uncle  John,  a  "fencer"  of  re- 
nown, who  maintained  it  ///  cqnilibrio,  with  strict  imparti- 
ality :  he  is  a  Republican  who  votes  the  Democratic  ticket. 
The  symposium  was  a  period  of  uninterrupted  joviality,  fitly 


426  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

crowning  with  agreeable  recollections  our  last  night  in  port, 
before  the  final  sail  for  home.  The  Commodore's  impressive 
readings  from  Longfellow,  with  interjected  comments  (some- 
times inapplicable)  by  all  the  auditors,  was  an  elocutionary 
effort  long  to  be  remembered.  Our  guests  left  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  a  light  early  breakfast  of  fennel  and  an  egg  and 
rasher,  bearing,  we  trust,  their  share  of  the  happy  thoughts 
which  will  cluster  in  retrospection  around  a  day  of  undiluted 
pleasure  in  St.  Augustine. 

There  was  but  one  drawback  to  our  visit.  We  failed  to 
bring  away  an  alligator.  The  steward  had  purchased  one, 
but  we  left  it  ashore.  No  well-regulated  family  ought  to  come 
away  from  Florida  without  an  alligator.  A  young  alligator 
is  quite  an  entertaining  pet.  It  is  what  the  ladies  call  "  cun- 
ning," ranking  next  to  the  young  nigger  and  little  pig,  v.^iich 
are  held  in  high  estimation  in  this  category  of  admiration. 
The  destruction  of  alligators  in  Florida  every  year  is  enor- 
mous, and  it  is  said  that  before  long  they  will  be  nearly  extir- 
pated. But  if  v/e  failed  on  the  alligator,  Uncle  John  secured 
another  pet  in  a  mocking-bird,  of  remarkable  merit  as  a 
singer,  which  he  named  Jim. 

Shortly  after  the  departure  of  our  friends,  we  sailed  out  of 
the  harbor,  the  sun  tipping  with  silver  the  steel-blue  waves 
(false  heraldry,  emblazoning  metal  on  metal),  a  fresh  breeze 
serving  to  get  us  over  the  bar,  and  enabling  us  to  escape  the 
Seth  Low,  which  we  feared  would  be  lying  in  wait  to  give  us 
a  tow,  which  would  have  made  a  heavy  inroad  on  the  Com- 
modore's treasure-chest.  Everything  seemed  propitious  for 
a  quick  passage.  On  the  30th  we  were  ofT  Cape  Hatteras, 
and  some  stormy  petrels  sailed  around,  the  first  we  had  seen 
during  the  voyage.  Their  appearance  is  said  to  presage  a 
storm,  but  we  had  none.  They  deceived  us.  I  shall  place  no 
confidence    in  Mother    Carey's    chickens    as    storm-breeders 


^'1 


HOME   AGAIN.  427 

hereafter  Perhaps  they  had  a  gale  on  hand  and  reserved 
it  for  another  vessel.  If  not,  they  owe  us  one.  But  they 
needn't  be  in  a  hurry  to  pay  ;  we  are  not  inexorable  credi- 
tors. 

We  saw  here  a  fine  sight,  a  large,  full-rigged  ship,  under 
a  cloud  of  canvas,  from  deck  to  truck,  every  sail  set  and 
drawing — main,  lower  and  upper  topsails,  topgallants,  royals 
and  sky-sails.  It  was  a  graceful  picture.  The  modern  four- 
masted  schooner  presents  an  attractive  appearance  under  full 
sail. 

May-day  came  in  bright  and  warm.  Uncle  John  pro- 
posed that  I  should  put  some  artificial  flowers  in  my  hair  and 
dance  with  him  around  the  foremast  as  a  may-pole,  but  I  said 
no  ;  I  wanted  no  floral  crown  ;  likeCnesar,  I  wore  laurel  to  hide 
my  baldness.  He  said  he  didn't  see  it,  and  1  told  him  it  was 
because  I  had  neglected  to  employ  the  newspaper  correspon- 
dents. 

We  had  a  fine  run  of  fifty-two  miles  in  four  hoin-s  ;  then 
cold,  bafJling  winds  set  in,  and  our  next  twenty-four  hours 
showed  a  progress  of  but  thirty-one  miles.  The  returns  came 
in  unfavorably,  showing  heavy  losses.  The  winds  are  uncer- 
tain, like  the  German  vote.  If  I  wanted  to  say  something 
unjust  here,  I  would  quote  Soirjciit  foiunc  varic,  and  com- 
pare the  wind  to  variable  woman,  but  I  deny  the  truth  of  the 
saying.  The  Latins  knew  better,  they  made  the  wind  mas- 
culine. It  is  the  man  who  is  fickle,  the  woman  is  true,  faith- 
ful, loyal,  and  devoted.  She  always  will  be,  unless  she  gets 
spoiled  by  voting,  or  knocking  around  promiscuously  among 
men  in  unfeminine  associations.  You  can't  restore  the  bloom 
to  the  peach  after  it  has  rolled  on  the  ground. 

During  this  calm,  we  had  time  for  a  good  deal  of  discus- 
sion, and  talked  over  our  experiences  since  last  T^ebruary 
with    much  earnestness.     We    agreed   in    the  main,  but  our 


428  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

fondness  for  argumentation  found  wide  scope  during  the  idle 
floating  along.  One  of  the  perplexing  problems  was  to  ac- 
count for  the  fact  that  during  our  voyaging,  visiting  English, 
French,  Dutch,  and  Spanish  islands,  attending  operas  and 
carnivals  on  Sunday,  we  never  happened  to  see  a  case  of 
drunkenness.  The  Commodore  accounted  for  it  by  the  cli- 
mate, but  I  said  if  it  was  an  atmospheric  influence,  New  York 
City  would  be  exempt  from  intoxication  during  the  hot  sum- 
mer months,  which  are  as  warm  as  the  tropics  in  winter.  Then 
the  light  wine  and  beer  theory,  which  is  advanced  to  account 
for  the  superior  temperance  of  Europe,  will  not  hold  good, 
for  we  have  been  in  places  where  they  drink  spirits  ;  where 
all  the  rum  of  commerce  is  produced.  When  asked  how  I 
accounted  for  it,  I  said  :  "  My  theory  is  that  drunkenness  is 
fostered,  to  a  great  extent,  by  excise  liquor  laws  intended  to 
operate  prohibitively  ;  that  is,  instead  of  being  a  source  of  rev^- 
enue  merely,  under  proper  regulations,  excise  is  diverted  to 
restriction.  Excise  means  revenue,  not  prohibition.  These 
have  powerful  allies  in  the  ignorant  anti-drinking  societies, 
which  make  no  distinction  between  moderation  and  excess, 
between  temperance  and  drunkenness.  They  promote  the 
evil  they  ostensibly  essay  to  cure.  Moderate  drinking  is  one 
of  the  cardinal  virtues — Temperance;  drunkenness  is  one  of 
the  seven  deadly  sins — Gluttony.  The  teetotal  reformer 
jumbles  them  together  and  bespatters  virtuous  Temperance 
in  his  indiscriminating  attacks  on  vicious  Gluttony.  It  is  no 
merit  to  abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of  intoxicants,  unless 
the  abstainer  has  a  dangerous  longing  which  might  lead  him 
to  excess,  in  which  case  abstention  is  an  effort  of  self-denial 
which  entitles  him  to  the  same  credit  he  would  earn  by  im- 
posing restraint  on  any  other  inordinate  appetite.  But  the 
person  who  has  no  taste  for  liquor  and  takes  a  vow  of  total 
abstinence  has  no  merit  as  the  exemplar  of  a  Christian  virtue, 


HOME   AGAIN.  429 

for  the  simple  reason  that  total  abstinence  from  intoxicatini^f 
liquors  is  not  a  Christian  virtue,  any  more  than  total  absti- 
nence from  pork  and  beans  would  be  :  not  so  much  if  one 
were  fond  of  pork  and  beans  to  excess,  and  didn't  care  for 
liquor. 

"  There  is  a  class  of  busybodies,  meddlers,  fanatics,  and 
bigots  who  have  set  up  the  modern  heresy  that  there  is  some- 
thing unchristian  in  drinking.  They  call  themselves  temper- 
ance men,  or  temperance  men  women,  as  the  case — or  rather 
gender — may  be.  This  is  a  misnomer.  Temperance  doesn't 
mean  total  abstinence.  It  means  moderation.  Here  is  the 
authority  of  the  lexicographers  : 

"  Webster  defines  '  Temperance,  Habitual  moderation  in 
regard  to  the  indulgence  of  the  natural  appetites  and  passions  ; 
restrained  or  moderate  indulgence  ;  moderation  ;  as  temper- 
ance in  eating  and  drinking  ;  tevipcranee  in  the  indulgence  of 
joy  or  mirth.' 

"Worcester  gives  this  definition:  '  Temperance,  Moder- 
ation ;  opposed  to  any  improper  indulgence,  but  especially 
to  drunkenness  Siwd  gluttony  ;  sobriety;   soberness." 

"  '  Observe    / 
The  rule  of  not  too  much,  by  temperance  taught, 
In  what  thou  eat'st  and  drink'st.' — MiLTOX. 

"  But  the  professional  teetotaler  parades  himself  ostenta- 
tiously as  a  temperance  man,  when  he  is  reall\'  nothing  of  the 
sort ;  he  is  an  intemperate  extremist.  Tectotalism  is  the 
frigid  zone,  Temperance  the  temperate.  Drunkenness  the  tor- 
rid. The  two  extremes  are  teetotalism  and  drunkenness,  the 
golden  mean  is  temperance,  moderate  eating  and  drinking. 

"  Yet  these  sciolous  agitators  will  insist  that  they  have  a 
right  to  establish  a  Christian  prohibition  of  drinking  intoxi- 


430  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

eating  liquors.  They  usurp  the  prerogative  of  Christ  and 
His  Church  in  laying  down  the  law.  They  are  of  the  same 
class  as  those  who  quote  the  Decalogue,  relating  to  the  ob- 
ligatory Jewish  Sabbath,  to  enforce  the  observance  of  the 
optional  Christian  Sunday.  They  organize  associations  which 
they  style  Christian  Temperance  (meaning  teetotal)  societies, 
the  fundamental  principle  of  which  is  that  prohibition  of 
drinking  is  part  of  Christianity,  This  is  misleading  assumption. 
Christianity  inculcates  temperance,  or  moderate  drinking, 
teetotalism  is  total-abstinent  Mohammedism.  The  believer 
in  the  Bible  drinks,  if  he  wants  to,  the  votary  of  the  Koran 
is  a  teetotaler,  a  prohibitionist.  There  is  not  a  line  in  the 
Bible  that  prohibits  drinking  in  terms,  unless  it  be  in  the 
one  quotation  I  shall  make  presently.  Drunkenness  is  de- 
nounced, but  moderate  drinking  is  encouraged.  It  is  said 
that  you  can  prove  anything  by  the  Bible,  but  there  is  one 
thing  that  cannot  be  found  in  it — a  text  absolutely  prohibit- 
ing drinking.  There  are  many  that  commend  it.  For  ex- 
ample : 

"  Psalms  civ.  15  :  '  And  wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart 
of  man.' 

"  Proverbs  xxxi.  6:  '  Give  strong  drink  unto  him  that  is 
ready  to  perish,  and  wine  unto  those  that  be  of  heavy 
hearts.' 

"  '  Let  him  drink  and  forget  his  poverty,  and  remember 
his  misery  no  more.' 

"Judges  ix.  13:  'And  the  vine  said  unto  them,  Should  I 
leave  my  wine,  which  cheereth  God  and  man,  and  go  to  be 
promoted  over  the  trees  ?  ' 

"These  texts  could  be  multiplied,  but  they  are  enough 
for  the  purpose.  I  know  you  can  find  others,  such  as  '  wine 
is  a  mocker,'  and  '  look  not  upon  wine  when  it  is  red,'  but 
these  shafts  are  directed  against  immoderation. 


HOME   AGAIN,  43  I 

"  I  can  find  but  one  text  which  would  give  color  to  this 
assumption  of  positive  prohibition,  and  even  this  is  suscept- 
ible of  a  different  interpretation:  '  But  they  who  believe,  and 
who  fly  for  the  sake  of  religion,  and  fight  in  God's  cause, 
they  shall  hope  for  the  mercy  of  God  ;  for  God  is  gracious 
and  merciful.  They  will  ask  thee  concerning  wine  and  lots: 
Answer,  In  both  there  is  great  sin,  and  also  some  things  of 
use  unto  men  ;  but  their  sinfulness  is  greater  than  their  use. 
Satan  seeketh  to  sow  dissension  and  hatred  among  you,  by 
means  of  wine  and  lots,  and  to  divert  you  from  remembering 
God,  and  from  prayer:  will  ye  not  therefore  abstain  from 
them  ?  ' 

"  This  is  not  a  command  ;  it  is  simply  a  request,  and  to 
make  it  prohibitive  is  a  strained  construction. 

"  But  drunkenness  is  a  horse  (or  pig)  of  another  color  from 
temperate  drinking.  So  far  from  intolerance  in  this  matter, 
a  little  lushing  was  probably  not  regarded  as  out  of  the  way 
after  Christianity  was  formally  established  and  promulgated 
in  the  use  of  wine  at  the  Last  Supper.  Before  that,  the 
Saviour  of  Mankind  was  stigmatized  as  a  winebibber,  a  friend 
of  publicans  and  sinners  ;  as  we  find  by  Matt.  xi.  19.  The 
modern  pharisees  keep  up  the  cry  against  publicans  and  sin- 
ners. My  reason  for  believing  that  it  wasn't  unusual  for  the 
good  fellows  to  get  slightly  fuddled  in  those  days,  is  found  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  After  they  were  all  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues,  the 
Jews,  in  order  to  get  a  hitch  on  them,  accused  them  of  being 
drunk;  an  amiable  practice  kept  up  to  this  day  by  liars  and 
slanderers.      Here  is  the  text : 

"  Acts  ii.  13.  '  Others  mocking  said.  These  men  are  full  of 
new  wine. 

"14.  '  But  Peter,  standing  up  with  the  eleven,  lifted  up 
his  voice,  and  said  unto  them,  Ye  men  of  Judea,  and  all  jw 


432  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

that  dwell  at  Jerusalem,  be  this  known  unto  you,  and  hearken 
to  my  words  : 

"15.  '  For  these  men  are  not  drunken,  as  ye  suppose,  see- 
ing it  is  but  the  third  hour  of  the  day.' 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  St.  Peter  didn't  ask  the  mob  to  accept 
his  naked  denial  ;  he  backed  it  up  with  a  convincing  physical 
argument.  It  was  too  early  in  the  day  for  the  Apostles  to  be 
slewed.     Later  on,  he  wouldn't  speak  so  confidently. 

"  These  Christian  temperance  persons  will  argue  with  you 
that  the  wine  of  the  Bible  was  unfermented  and  unintoxicat- 
ing  ;  and  in  the  next  breath  will  quote  the  Scriptures  against 
drunkenness,  which  they  ignorantly  or  maliciously  confound 
with  temperate  drinking.  If  it  was  not  intoxicating,  how 
could  the  sinners  get  drunk  ?  The  fact  is  all  wine  is  intoxi- 
cating ;  if  it  were  not,  it  wouldn't  be  wine  at  all.  The  sub- 
stance must  be  fermented  to  become  wine.  The  exceptional 
prohibitory  case  before  referred  to  is  the  command  to  Aaron, 
Leviticus  x.  9  :  '  Do  not  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink,  thou, 
nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  when  ye  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation.' 

"  This  applies  exclusively  to  the  priests,  and  is  restricted 
in  time  and  place.  Those  of  us  who  are  priests,  and  go  into 
the  tabernacle,  must  abstain,  but  when  we  come  out,  there  is 
no  command  against  taking  a  modest  quencher,  as  Swiveller 
would  say. 

"  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  faith  of  the  people  is  destroyed 
when  false  prophets  arise  and  pretend  that  the  Christian  re- 
ligion makes  it  sinful  to  drink.  Yet  there  are  some  conven- 
ticles, or  conferences  (I  don't  know  what  they  call  these 
things)  which  will  not  permit  a  man  to  enter  Heaven,  through 
the  particular  gate  they  have  charge  of,  if  his  breath  smells 
of  liquor.  So  the  members  of  those  persuasions  or  '  societies ' 
drink  on  the  sly,  and  eat  cloves  and  cardamom  seeds.    Others 


HOME   AGAIN,  433 

rule  a  man  out  of  Heaven  for  using  tobacco.  I  think  myself 
St.  Peter  ought  to  draw  the  line  at  chewing.  There  is  no 
more  wrong  in  drinking  a  glass  of  good  whisky  than  in  eating 
a  piece  of  bread.     Any  other  belief  is  heresy, 

"  The  reason  why  there  is  comparatively  so  little  drunken- 
ness in  other  countries  is  that  nobody  thinks  of  prohibiting 
the  use  of  liquor;  but  few  get  drunk,  if  we  measure  b\-  the 
American  standard.  Public  opinion  is  in  favor  of  drinking  ; 
public  opinion  frowns  on  intoxication.  In  our  country,  the 
loathsome  drunkard,  rolling  in  the  gutter,  glances  through 
the  window  at  a  gentleman  drinking  a  glass  of  wine  at  din- 
ner, and  yells  out  :  '  You  drink  and  so  do  I  ;  there  are  two 
of  us.'  Then  the  humanitarian  (a  vicious  word  etymologi- 
cally  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  generally  used,  but  probably 
correct  in  its  employment  here,  for  it  means  one  who  denies 
the  divinity  of  Christ)  slaps  the  miserable  glutton  on  the 
shoulder  and  sniffles  :  '  You  are  right,  my  poor,  weak,  suf- 
fering brother.  Keep  on  getting  drunk  so  long  as  the  gen- 
tleman keeps  drinking  and  staying  sober.  You  have  as  much 
right  to  drink  as  he  has.  You  support  my  business  of  de- 
nouncing the  saloon-keeper  for  making  you  drunk.  Sta\- 
drunk  ! ' 

"  It  is  useless  to  theorize  on  these  matters.  Drunkenness 
is  a  horrible  evil,  but  pseudo-reformers  don't  take  the  right 
course  to  suppress  it,  even  if  they  want  to,  which  is  doubtful. 
Their  occupation  would  be  gone  ;  the}-  would  lose  the 
frightful  examples.  There  must  be  some  object  of  denuncia- 
tion to  keep  up  interest  in  the  churches.  So,  when  there  are 
no  serious  conflagrations,  opportune  railroad  accidents,  or 
frightful  steamboat  disasters  to  preach  about,  in  star  engage- 
ments, there  is  always  left  the  stock  business  of  iniquity  in 
rum-selling,  with  the  Bible  lugged  in  occasionally  by  wa\'  o( 
variety.  Drunkenness  is  horrible.  When  the  Lord  wanted 
28 


434  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

to  cause  destruction  to  the  world  He  used  the  type  of  the 
wine-cup  of  fury  to  the  prophet  Jeremiah.  There  is  a  story 
told  of  a  monk,  to  whom  Satan  offered  a  choice  of  sins — in- 
cest, murder,  or  drunkenness.  The  poor  monk  chose  the  last, 
as  the  least  of  the  three ;  and,  when  he  was  drunk,  he  com- 
mitted the  other  two. 

"  In  countries  where  there  are  no  prohibitory  laws,  and  no 
temperance  (!)  societies,  there  is  but  little  intoxication  ;  it 
flourishes  with  prohibitive  excise  laws.  This  is  the  fact,  and 
one  can  draw  his  own  inference.  I  may  be  wrong  in  my  de- 
duction. I  am  about  as  apt  to  be  wrong  as  right  on  any  sub- 
ject. I  know  that  these  views  are  not  in  accord  with  those 
that  obtain  generally  in  the  community,  but  many  thinking 
persons  will  agree  with  me.  The  mass  doesn't  think.  A  man 
gets  drunk  and  commits  a  crime.  Then  the  unthinking  mob 
howls,  Prohibit  the  sale  of  liquor  !  It  is  an  impracticability. 
The  only  way  to  prevent  the  use  of  liquor  would  be  to  make 
it  a  matter  of  religion  as  the  Mohammedans  do.  The  so- 
called  temperance  advocates  attempt  to  make  it  a  matter  of 
Christian  religion,  but,  unfortunately  for  them,  it  is  inconsis- 
tent with  Christianity.  To  use  the  political  simile,  which  a 
majority  of  religionists  understand  better  than  they  do  the 
Bible,  there  is  no  room  in  the  Christian  platform  for  a  liquor- 
prohibition  plank.  The  Christian  system  is  a  Divine  revela- 
tion, and  there  is  no  revelation  against  drinking.  All  through 
the  Bible  the  use  of  wine  in  moderation  is  approved.  To  sum 
up,  Temperance  is  a  virtue.  Drunkenness  is  a  vice.  It  is  a 
detestable  form  of  Gluttony.  Christ  came  on  earth  nineteen 
hundred  years  ago,  this  Christian  Temperance  business  was 
unknown  until  within  the  past  fifty  years.  Perhaps  Our 
Saviour  didn't  know  the  law  of  His  own  promulgation." 

*'  If  you  talk  that  way  when  you  get  home,"  said  Uncle 
John,  "  you'll  have  the  churches  come  down  on  you." 


SOUTH    AMERICAN    INDIANS. 


HOiME   AGAIN.  435 

"Well  let  them  come,"  said  I  ;  "  1  think  I  can  hold  my 
own  in  the  argument.  The  great  trouble  with  us  is  that  we 
lack  the  courage  to  maintain  intelligent  opinions  against  the 
assumptions  of  those  who  claim  to  be  holier  than  we.  Truth 
is  truth,  whether  clothed  in  black  broadcloth  and  white 
choker,  or  in  blue  kerseymere  and  red  scarf  with  a  diamond 
pin.  The  difficulty  is,  we  are  afraid  of  Tartuffe,  Mawworm, 
and  Stiggins.  Let  a  man  be  a  teetotaler  if  he  wants  to.  It 
is  his  own  affair.  But  he  musn't  insist  upon  every  other  man 
being  one.  Because  I  don't  want  it,  you  mustn't  have  it. 
He  can't  fit  his  bridle  to  ev-ery  mouth.  In  Sir  Thomas 
More's  laws  of  the  Utopians,  it  is  provided  that  no  man  shall 
be  punished  for  religion,  *  it  being  a  fundamental  opinion 
among  them  that  a  man  cannot  make  himself  believe  any- 
thing he  pleases.'  And  this  great  chancellor  and  renowned 
scholar,  a  rigid  Roman  Catholic,  was  so  honest  and  conscien- 
tious that  he  let  Henry  VIII.  cut  off  his  head  rather  than 
acknowledge  the  right  of  the  king  to  divorce  and  marry  at 
will. 

"  One  of  the  most  unique  practical  temperance  sermons 
is  that  given  by  Dr.  Doran,  in  his  '  Table  Traits,'  preached 
by  a  simple  German  prelate,  the  Bishop  of  Treves,  evidently 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.      He  said  : 

"  '  Brethren,  to  whom  the  high  privilege  of  repentance  and 
penance  has  been  conceded,  you  feel  the  sin  of  abusing  the 
gifts  of  Providence.  But,  abusicni  noii  tollit  usnin.  It  is 
written,  "Wine  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man."  It  follows, 
then,  that  to  use  wine  moderately  is  our  duty.  Now  there 
is,  doubtless,  none  of  my  male  hearers  who  cannot  drink  his 
four  bottles  without  affecting  his  brain.  Let  him,  however — 
if  by  the  fifth  or  sixth  bottle  he  no  longer  knoweth  his  own 
wife — if  he  beat  and  kick  his  children,  and  look  on  his  dear- 
est friend  as  an  enemy — refrain  from  an  excess  displeasing  to 


436  -  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

God  and  man,  and  which  renders  him  contemptible  in  the 
eyes  of  his  fellows.  But  whoever,  after  drinking  his  ten  or 
twelve  bottles,  retains  his  senses  sufficiently  to  support  his 
tottering  neighbor,  or  manage  his  household  affairs,  or  exe- 
cute the  commands  of  his  temporal  and  spiritual  superiors, 
let  him  take  his  share  quietly,  and  be  thankful  for  his  talent. 
Still,  let  him  be  cautious  how  he  exceed  this  ;  for  man  is 
weak,  and  his  powers  limited.  It  is  but  seldom  that  our 
kind  Creator  extends  to  any  one  the  grace  to  be  able  to 
drink  safely  sixteen  bottles,  of  which  privilege  he  hath  held 
me,  the  meanest  of  his  servants,  worthy.  And  since  no  one 
can  say  of  me  that  I  ever  broke  out  in  causeless  rage,  or 
failed  to  recognize  my  household  friends  or  relations,  or  neg- 
lected the  performance  of  my  spiritual  duties,  I  may,  with 
thankfulness  and  a  good  conscience,  use  the  gift  which  hath 
been  entrusted  to  me.  And  you,  my  pious  hearers,  each 
take  modestly  your  alloted  portion  ;  and,  to  avoid  all  excess, 
follow  the  precept  of  St.  Peter — Try  all,  and  stick  by  the 
best !  '" 

I  talked  very  seriously  to  Uncle  John  about  his  unfortu- 
nate propensity  to  make  puns,  which  I  regard  as  a  blemish 
on  his  otherwise  blameless  character,  but  he  would  not  be 
convinced.  On  the  contrary,  he  contended  that,  while  the 
dullard,  unable  to  coin  them,  affected  to  turn  up  his  stupid 
nose  at  these  witticisms,  they  were  held  in  high  repute  by  the 
bel  esprit.  Said  he  :  "  Look  here  ;  you  have  been  casting  at 
me  old  wives'  fables,  musty  proverbs  and  quotations  in  Latin, 
Greek,  French,  and  Italian,  which  you  probably  dug  out  of 
the  dictionary,  and  now  I'll  hurl  at  you  an  original,  neat 
description  of  the  pun,  and  see  if  you  can  rival  it  with  your 
wordy  exhumations.  The  pun  hits  the  nail  on  the  head ;  it 
is  the  veritable  remacutetigistical  condensation  of  verbalistic 
exploitation.     What  do  you  say  to  that  ?  " 


HOME   AGAIN.  437 

''Nothing,''  I  answered;  "it  is  a  dumfounding  sock- 
dolager." 

"  Puns,"  resumed  Uncle  John,  "  spring  forth  spontane- 
ously. I  can't  stop  them.  They  arc  like  the  effervescing 
bubbles  of  champagne. 

"  *  True  wit  is  nature  to  advantage  dress'd. 

What  oft  was  thought,  but  ne'er  so  well  exprcss'd.'  " 

"  If  you  are  going  to  quote  Pope,"  I  said,  "  I'll  try  a  few 
lines  on  you. 

"  '  \'icc  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen  ; 
Yet  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face. 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace.' 

I  have  listened  so  much  to  your  punning  that  I  am  becoming 
fearful  of  contagion  ;  I  am  already  in  a  state  of  endurance, 
and  may  end  by  embracing  puns  myself" 

"  You  needn't  be  afraid,''  sarcastically  reinarked  the  verr 
balist,  "  you'll  never  be  a  punster.  Nature  didn't  gift  you 
with  the  requisite  bright  intellect  and  ready  tongue.  You 
lack  the  dWxnc  afflatus.  Punster  nascitnr,  non  fit  (there,  you 
see,  I  can  quote  as  well  as  you  when  I  want  to,  but  I  prefer 
to  be  original).  You  may  get  off  something  occasionally  if 
you  stick  to  me,  but  your  jokes  will  be  valuable  only  for  the 
novelty.  They  won't  be  good,  but  that  you  can  make  an\' 
will  excite  surprise.     They  will  be  like  flies  in  amber. 

"  '  Pretty  !  in  amber  to  observe  the  forms 

Of  hairs,  or  straws,  or  dirt,  or  grubs,  or  worms  ! 
The  things,  we  know,  are  neither  rich  nor  rare, 
But  wonder  how  the  devil  they  got  there.'  " 

"  Mercy,  "  I  cried,  "  I  give  it  up.  No  more  contests  with 
you.     You  have  been   saving  yourself  for  one  grand   final 


438  THE    CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

effort  by  which  I  am  routed,  'horse,  foot,  and  dragoons.' 
You  have  cured  me  of  big  words  and  quotations.  I  renounce 
them  with  all  their  works  and  pomps." 

But  he  wouldn't  let  me  off.  The  ancient  mariner  seized 
my  button-hole,  with  skinny  hand,  and  carried  the  war  into 
Hibernia.  He  said,  "  One  of  the  popular  stupidities  is  to 
associate  wisdom  with  reticence  and  stilted  dignity  of  deport- 
ment. If  one  is  bright,  cheerful,  agreeable,  a  sayer  of  good 
things,  he  is  set  down  as  shallow  and  frivolous,  but  a  dunder- 
head may  get  credit  for  gumption  by  wearing  a  thick  suit  of 
gravity." 

"  Yes,"  I  interrupted,  "  gravity  is  a  mystery  of  the  body 
invented  to  conceal  the  defects  of  the  mind." 

"Never  mind  that,"  resumed  Uncle  John;  "Sophocles 
was  not  far  out  of  the  way,  in  one  view,  when  he  said  that  '  to 
know  nothing  is  the  sweetest  life.'  You  talk  about  trifling 
things.  There  are  no  such  things  as  trifles  in  the  world.  The 
smallest  events  have  their  influence.  Indeed,  the  destinies  of 
the  world  are  influenced  by  what  are  called  trifles.  There 
has  been  a  great  parade  of  Napoleon's  blowing  out  one  of 
the  candles.  I  think  it  was  a  mean  thing  for  him  to  do,  but 
he  was  always  a  demagogue,  although  the  greatest  man  that 
ever  lived,  and  practiced  that  little  bit  of  economy  to  get  his 
name  in  the  papers. 

"  There  is  often  much  wisdom  in  folly.  Let  me  read  you 
what  the  learned  monk  Erasmus  wrote,  dedicatory  of  his 
great  work  '  In  Praise  of  Folly,' to  the  erudite  Sir  Thomas 
More  : 

' '  '  And  it  is  a  chance  if  there  be  wanting  some  quarrelsome 
persons  that  will  show  their  teeth,  and  pretend  these  fooleries 
are  either  too  buffoon-like  for  a  grave  divine,  or  too  satyrical 
for  a  meek  Christian,  and  so  will  exclaim  against  me  as  if  I 
were  vamping  up  some   old  farce,  or  acted  anew  the  Lucian 


HOME   AGAIN.  439 

again  with  a  peevish  snarling  at  all  things.  But  those  who 
are  offended  at  the  lightness  and  pedantry  of  this  subject,  I 
would  have  them  consider  that  I  do  not  set  myself  for  the 
first  example  of  this  kind,  but  that  the  same  has  been  oft  done 
by  many  considerable  authors.  For  thus  several  ages  since. 
Homer  wrote  of  no  more  weiglity  a  subject  than  of  a  war  be- 
tween the  frogs  and  mice,  Virgil  of  a  gnat  and  a  pudding- 
cake,  and  Ovid  of  a  nut.  Polycrates  commended  the  cruelty 
of  Busirus  ;  and  Isocrates,  that  corrects  him  for  this,  did  as 
much  for  the  injustice  of  Glaucus.  Favorinus  extolled  Ther- 
sites,  and  wrote  in  favor  of  a  quartan  ague.  Syncsius  pleaded 
in  behalf  of  baldness  ;  and  Lucian  defended  a  sipping  fly. 
Seneca  drollingly  related  the  deifying  of  Claudius  ;  Plutarch 
the  dialogue  between  Gryllus  and  Ulysses ;  Lucian  and 
Apuleius  the  story  of  an  ape  ;  and  somebody  else  records  the 
last  will  of  a  hog,  of  which  St.  Hierom  makes  mention.  So 
that  if  they  please,  let  themselves  think  the  worst  of  me,  and 
fancy  to  themselves  that  I  was  all  the  while  a-playing  at  push- 
pin or  riding  astride  on  a  hobby-horse.'  " 

"  Forbear,  rash  man  !  "  I  exclaimed,  "  I  can  submit  to  a 
good  deal,  but  when  you  come  to  launch  Erasmus  at  mc,  I 
have  done.  Go  on  with  your  joking  ;  be  as  funny  as  you 
can  !  Erasmus  !  Holy  smoke  !  as  Aleck  Taylor  said  when 
he  saw  a  bishop  light  a  cigar  aboard  the  steamer  America." 
Exeunt  confabulations. 

I  became  homesick  at  the  thought  of  parting  Avith  Uncle 
John.  He  was  anxious  to  get  home,  but  I  have  none  to  go  to, 
and  the  yacht  has  become  a  sort  of  home  to  me  during  these 
months  of  pleasant  companionship,  lightening  care,  and  shed- 
ding the  cheerful  glow  of  hearty  and  sympathetic  communion. 

After  a  tedious  wrestle  with  a  head-wind  and  retarding 
fog,  we  sighted  the  Five  Fathom  light,  off  Cape  May,  on  the 
second,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  we  made  the  High- 


440  THE   CRUISE   OF   THE   MONTAUK. 

land  lights,  and,  passing  Sandy  Hook  after  dark,  sailed  up  to 
our  old  anchorage,  singing,  as  we  went  through  the  Narrows, 

THE   MONTAUK   SONG. 

When  we  come  sailing  back  again, 

Hurrah  !  Montauk  ! 
From  cruising  on  the  Spanish  Main, 

Hurrah  !  Montauk ! 
As  we  cast  anchor  in  the  Bay 
We'll  hear  the  jolly  boatmen  say, 
Oh,  welcome  home  in  merry  May 

The  peerless  yacht  Montauk  ! 

We'd  nasty  weather  in  Gulf  Stream, 

Hurrah  !  Montauk ! 
We  heard  the  wild  waves'  vengeful  scream, 

Hurrah  !  Montauk  ! 
When  angry  waves  our  brave  craft  struck 
She  met  them  with  unflinching  pluck — 
She  rode  the  waters  like  a  duck. 

The  peerless  yacht  Montauk. 

Bermudian  hospitality, 

Hurrah !  Montauk  ! 
Outstretched  warm  hearts  with  hands  so  free, 

Hurrah !  Montauk  ! 
Bold  yachtsmen  cheered  with  three  times  three 
The  flag  of  New  York's  yacht  navy — 
And  pretty  girls  came  out  to  see 

The  peerless  yacht  Montauk. 

We  met  among  West  Indian  isles. 

Hurrah !  Montauk  ! 
Kind  greeting  words  and  genial  smiles  ; 

Hurrah  !  Montauk  ! 
And  now  we're  here  to  sing  the  song, 
That  winds  and  waves  will  chorus  strong — 
May  victories  her  fame  prolong  ! 

The  peerless  yacht  Montauk. 


HOME    AGAIN. 


441 


Before  departure  we  had  fixed  May  first  for  the  date  of  our 
return.  We  were  not  far  out  of  the  way.  Half  an  hour  before 
midnight,  on  the  third,  some  welcoming  lights  were  displaj-cd 
from  yachts  in  the  Bay  ;  we  came  to  anchor  off  Staplcton, 
Uncle  John  (the  ruhng  passion  strong  to  the  end)  shouting. 
as  the  chain  ran  through  the  hawse-hole,  "  Halloo,  Mr. 
Breitfeld,  you've  dropped  something  " — and  so  ended 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  MONTAUK. 


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